Julia of the Island
by Bathsheba Blythe
Summary: Julia Una Blythe, daughter of Jem and Faith Blythe, just finished her course for a qualified nurse and now she's back at P.E.I. Follow her story and discover how her and her family's lives will change throughout the years of WWII.
1. Homecoming

**Chapter I**

Julia Una Blythe, excited just like a little girl, jumped on the train from Toronto to her hometwon, Glen St. Mary. She was eventually coming back home.

It was the most wonderful day for a journey; the sun was shining, letting go of its warmth towards the earth, making it feel almost like summer but still remaining in the stillness of spring.

Julia eventually finished her course for a qualified nurse _and_ a midwife which she had been doing for almost a year and a half. She worked so very hard and finished it earlier than anyone else. She was so excited about coming back and seeing her whole big and loud family, that she couldn't _just_ look out of the window for the whole journey, watching fields and trees which always fascinated her but not when she had other _more important_ things to think about.

Instead, she took her family photo-album out of her suitcase and started looking at the pictures inside it. She giggled when she saw the first picture. There they were, Dr James Blythe kissing his newly-wed wife, Faith, in front of their house which was commonly known as the House on the Hill.

Julia remembered well the old pictures of her parents and thought that they still looked as if they were twenty and indeed they even remained twenty on their insides as well.

The next picture represented her and her siblings just a year before, in 1938, with Mother and Father looking at their brood with contended, full of pride eyes.

There were her older brothers, Walt and Merry. Oh, Walt had such a handsome face! There was no girl in Glen St. Mary who could resist his golden-brown curly hair, his square jaw and hazel eyes full of poetry and music. And, oh, yes, there was Merry who was simply… merry and constantly jolly. He always looked funny with a smirk crossing his face and red curls falling on his forehead while tap dancing.

Then it was Julia herself, dancing with Walt. Julia sighed when she saw herself. She never considered herself pretty and certainly not beautiful. But she really _was_. She was the prettiest of her family just after her cousin and dearest friend, Rose Meredith. Julia was a perfect mix of Jem and Faith Blythe. Her long wavy dark-red hair, golden-brown eyes with a perfect Anne Shirley's nose and full red lips, made every boy turn his head whenever they saw Julia on the street or in the shop.

But that wasn't the _only_ beauty she possesed. For it wasn't her looks that most entirely represented her; it was her _soul_ and her gentle _heart_ which were so different from anyone belonging to her family. Gentle, yet strong and independent, sometimes quite _too_ independent, as her Mother would say, was her heart, and her soul was just as wild as the wind, with a scent of loyalty and hopefulness.

"Oh, darling Cee!" Julia said to herself and chuckled. There was a little nine-year-old Cecilia Elizabeth Blythe, shy and polite little sister of Julia's. She was a real darling and always reminded Faith of her sister Una when she was her age. Cee, wasn't as pretty as her sister was in her age, but her long auburn hair, deep dimples in her cheeks and incredible kindness in her hazel-eyes made everyone's hearts melt whenever she smiled or laughed.

The next picture gave Julia a huge dose of delight and warmth for her heart. For it was the picture with her whole family together, two years earlier at her own fifteenth birthday party.

There was, of course, Grandmother Blythe, always smiling and never aging, with her head lying on her husband's proud shoulder and holding Julia's hand.

Aunt Rilla with Uncle Ken and their grown up children with the oldest Gil, who was the very image of his father, who just finished his dance course at the Toronto College; the unpredictable sixteen-year-old Leslie whose face was _covered_ in frecles which made her Grandmother apologise to her every single time she looked at her granddaughter's face; the youngest Owen, always reading something and watching everyone else from the distance, with his red curls covering his grey-eyes; and eventually there was Blythe.

Blythe… Grandmother Blythe could never resist _anything_ he ever wanted becase he looked and behaved _exactly_ like Uncle Walter once did, with his black curly hair and fair grey eyes filled up with millions of new ideas for his new poems.

 _Could this rumour be true?_ Julia questioned _Was he really in love with me? No… It's just some silly mistake and a family gossip that simply doesn't count._

But yes, Blythe _was_ deeply and helplessly in love with Julia ever since she left a soft kiss on his cheek, on that very day from the picture she was holding in her hands. On that day, Blythe left the body of a boy and stepped into a body of a man, for he knew what he wanted the most in this world. And he promised himself that he will do everything to have Julia Una Blythe always by his side, making her happy until the end of days.

Julia shook her head and looked at other members of her family. Una and Shirley Blythe's three girls; Cilia, Shirley's spirit in one person; young and beautiful like a moon at its eclipse, Luna Rosemary who was the very image of her mother; and eventually Cee's little pal called Nancy.

There was Aunt Nan with her husband Jerry Meredith and their children: best friend of Walt and Merry; Jake, always playing his favourite violin, being an incredible copy of his Father, and Julia's very own Anna Rosemary called by everyone 'Rose' for she really _was_ just like a blossoming rose at the beginning of June with inherited beauty from her Mother.

There were dear Aunt Di and Uncle Carl Meredith and their brood: Cordelia and Tom, the sweetest of their family, six year old twins.

Eventually, dear Grandmother and Grandfather Meredith, holding each other's hands and looking in each others eyes with love and affection which always gave Julia thrills and some small but still meaningful hopes for her own future.

Julia smiled at the photograph because it was one of her favourites. She loved her family to bits and it was almost impossible for her to imagine how her Grandmother Blythe survived the orphanage being without _any_ family of her own!

Sometimes her cousins called Julia 'Bathsheba' or simply 'Sheba'. She always adored that name ever since she read "Far From the Madding Crowd". Anyone who knew Julia and read the book, knew that Bathsheba and Julia were one soul in two different bodies from two different worlds of reality and literature.

For the next couple of hours, Julia looked through the whole album and seemed as if she was lost in her own old world, the world of the past. She suddenly awoke from her daydream when the conductor shouted: " _The next station: Glen St. Mary!_ "

As soon as Julia stepped out of the train, she heard the voices she knew, the voices she was longing to hear for a very long time.

"Julia! My darling girl!" Faith cried when Julia ran straight into her Mother's opened arms.

"Oh, Mum! I've missed you _just_ as much as one can miss the moon _if_ the moon could disappear!" Julia exclaimed when a sweet flowerish smell of her Mother's hair reached her nose.

"Oh, it's _so_ good to have you back, sweet-pie!" Father said and kissed his daughter three times on each cheek.

As soon as Julia saw her brothers standing beside her Father, she gasped and reached for her suitcase, opening it with hungry movements.

"Happy birthday, you _old_ brothers o'mine!" she said in a sweet tone and gave Walt and Merry a package each.

Walter got the biggest poetry book that Julia could possibly find in the Toronto Library and Merry got new shining tap shoes.

"You really _are_ a dear, Bathsheba!" Walt said when he hugged his sister tightly, holding a big poetry book in his hands.

"I will try them on as soon as we will get home. Thanks, Jules." Merry said looking at his brand new shoes and kissed Julia's forehead.

"Where's Cee?" Julia questioned looking around for her small sister.

"She's already at Ingleside, playing with Nancy in 'Pirates' or so they both call it. She wanted to come and greet you and had a dilemma for _half_ a day." Father laughed and put his arm around Julia's shoulders. She chuckled trying to imagine Cee's little face with furrowed eyebrows and a huge difficulty in deciding on such an _important_ issue such as this one.

The Blythes came into their car, chattering as always, each of them _hungry_ for talking with their Julia, whose lips could never be closed.

"But that's not the way home!" she said when she finally had the chance to look out of the window and not trying to concentrate on the topic whether there is a difference between Toronto girls and Glen St. Mary girls.

"Didn't we tell you? We're going straight for our birthday party at Ingleside." said Merry and smiled when he felt how Julia's hand squeezed his own.

"Is it really happening? Will I see everyone today? _Really_?" Julia said as if to herself, looking out of the window and watching the horizon closely.

"You certainly will." Mother said with a smile crossing her face.

"It seems nearly impossible to think that the day that I was waiting for for ever so long will actually happen _today_. It is quite sad in a way for I know that all the waiting period can be even more exciting than the event itself." Julia said and Walt grinned at Merry and Mother exchanged her looks with her husband. How greatly Julia was missed!

And then as suddenly as it could, the sweet and enchanting Ingleside appeared on the horizon watched closely by Julia, oh, how she missed it! No matter how much she loved learning new things, she would never love it more than her dear family.

Everyone was already waiting there, all of her grandparents, every aunt, every uncle and all of her cousins.

The first one to race into Julia's opened arms was her sister Cee whose cheeks were burning from emotions connected with both arriving of Julia and the birthday party coming shortly afterwards.

"How much you've grown, little Cee!" Julia exclaimed and kissed her sister's rosy cheek tenderly.

"I think that you have grown _too_!" Cee replied joyfully.

"No, dear, this remarkable thing is called _heels_." Julia whispered to Cee's ear who gasped quietly and giggled.

There was no end to hugging, kissing and squeezing one another for another twenty minutes or so. All of the young generation of Blythes, Fords and Merediths reached Julia just as if they haven't seen her for at least ten years. All cousins simply _jumped_ on Julia, to the very horror of the older generation who watched the "performance" closely.

"I think Julia is enjoying herself." Aunt Rilla said between the giggles when she was watching how everyone tried to give Julia a kiss at the same time. Faith looked at her sister-in-law and then at her daughter and giggled herself feeling like a girl once again.

"But _where_ is Blythe?" Julia asked suddenly the group of young people around her.

"Well… He said that he is making you a surprise." Rose said excitedly when she put her hand into Julia's own.

"But it's not _my_ birthday!" she laughed.

"Oh, but he really _is_ over the moon to see you!" added Cilia with a grin.

"Look there, our Bathsheba." Gil Ford whispered into Julia's ear, a smile crossing his lips.

There he was, Blythe Ford coming straight from the Rainbow Valley with Julia's horse, River, decorated in all kinds of ribbons and other colourful decorations ever invented. Julia laughed when she saw her cousin strolling down, chuckling himself. She didn't wait till he would reach Ingleside, she got through the crowds and ran straight to her Blythe and her horse River.

"You incredibly _wonderful_ man!" she shouted when she jumped on his neck, almost causing Blythe to loose his balance.

"I knew you'd be pleased to ride on River as soon as you get home." Blythe said joyfully and then as if he just remembered who was standing in front of him, he took his Bathsheba in his strong arms and twirled her around in the air "How _glad_ I am to see you!".

"And I to see you! You look… more mature…" she examined him from head to toe and realized how much his face changed and that it looked so much more like the face of an adult with those outstanding edges and pointy chin "- _what_ has happened to your always messy curls!" Julia said and patted Blythe's straight hair.

"Well… For the party's sake…" Blythe said and blushed heavily under her gaze.

"Oh, _please_ , Blythe! I won't allow your phenomenal curls to stay straight all afternoon!" she replied and started messing up Blythe's hair. Blythe didn't mind at all. He was laughing and his eyes were shining in a way that only deeply in love man's eyes can gleam. It seemed that only Julia didn't see this special look just because she didn't allow herself to see it.

She was waiting for a _certain_ someone to come to the party and she set up her mind on looking out for _that_ man's eyes gleaming in the same way as Blythe's eyes did this very moment.

"Won't you take a ride?" Blythe asked her.

"Of _course_ I will and…" she took out her hand when she hopped on River's back "You will join me." she winked at him knowingly and Blythe couldn't resist.

Blythe followed Julia's actions and they both galloped to the dancing crowd of people just outside the Ingleside.

Julia's mind was near to explosion. It always was, whenever she was riding her horse, "galloping until the sky will turn black", as she used to say. Her hair flying in the air, her cheeks turning rosy red and her eyes simply _burning_ with passion. In that very moment she was as agitated as the sunrise is at the beginning of a new day.


	2. The Party

**Chapter II**

"So… what are you going to do now, Jules? Will you start your career as a nurse?" Rose asked her cousin.

Just after the birthday cake for Walt and Merry, the older generation drifted away to the garden of Ingleside, leaving the young ones to themselves, although still having an eye on each of them.

Three groups had been made. Julia, Rose, Cilia, Leslie and Luna were lying underneath the Tree Lovers; Walt, Merry, Gil, Jake, Blythe, Owen and Marshall Douglas were, of course, near the table with snacks; and eventually Cee, Cordelia, Nancy and Tom, being the youngest of them all, played in 'Pirates' together while screaming at the top of their lungs. They always devided themselves into groups at the parties especially when friends from the "outside" were coming over and the girls and the boys wanted to talk over things girls-with-girls and boys-with-boys.

"No, I won't… I mean not _yet_ at least. I decided on staying at home for another year or so, just to get some peace and quiet after this long year and a half in a loud Toronto." Julia replied with a small grin.

Rose, Cilia, Luna and Leslie sighed in relief.

"But _do_ tell us, how did you find Toronto? Did you make any friends that you didn't tell us about?" Leslie chuckled and gave Julia a naughty wink.

"No, I didn't make friends with anyone, or rather no one made any friends with _me_. I could see that other girls didn't care as much about the theory as I did, they were all covered in make-up and looking out for the boys - that's all they really did. So I focused on my studies, instead of focusing on making friends." Julia grinned "Besides, Gil was visiting me once or twice a week, for he too, as you know, was lonely in his college."

"And what about Toronto itself?" Luna questioned, playing with a small flower in her hand.

"I liked Toronto at first; you know how I always fancied living in a big city, but after a while, I just couldn't _stand_ it sometimes. I missed being alone once in a while and in such crowded city like Toronto, it is impossible to be alone, _even_ in the middle of the night." Julia explained "Not that I tried it." she smiled and so did the girls.

"But you _had_ fun, right?" Cilia questioned with a raised brow.

"Of course, I did. After all, I have never been to so many clubs and dances in my whole life that I did during this past year." Julia laughed "And oh, _that_ was fun! I learned so many new steps with Gilly! And girls…" she leaned towards the centre of their little cirlce with a cheeky smile on her face "The Toronto-boys… You would _love_ them!"

Girls laughed light-heartedly over the way Julia said this last line. She really had a gift of making people laugh and smile wherever she went.

"You mean, that you _eventually_ got your first kiss?" Rose whispered as if someone could overhear them.

Julia chuckled quietly "Of course not, silly! I said that _you_ would love them. You all know that I have no intention of getting my first kiss from just _anyone_."

"And what about Troy Rogers?" Cilia giggled and pointed at the tall young man who was coming over to the boys-group. Julia blushed heavily and looked over Luna's shoulder to see that Troy was giving his presents to Walt and Merry.

Troy, a boy three years older than Julia, was a real handsome English boy. Five years earlier, he moved with his parents from Brighton to Glen St. Mary when his father's brother died and left him his big mansion along with his huge farm.

At the age of seven, Julia vowed that she will _never_ get married and that she will dedicate her life to people in need. But she couldn't ignore her feelings for Troy. He certainly was the handsomest of Glen St. Mary's boys with his coal-black hair and almost as black and dangerous eyes with very majestic nose and chin.

Troy always liked Julia and had a soft spot for her. They were really good friends from the beginning but surely not as good as Julia was with her brothers or cousins.

Troy had a reputation of a 'heartbreaker' and wasn't very well thought of by the older generations in Julia's family. There was something in him that just wasn't in other people who were of the race that knows Joseph. But Julia, being a silly girl of seventeen, didn't notice this little fact, and her mind was set up on getting her first kiss from no one else _but_ Troy.

"And what about you, girls? Are you starting sweethearting already?" Julia changed the subject slightly.

Rose rolled her eyes, knowing her cousin's little tricks but answered sweetly: "Well… Cilia, here, _certainly_ is."

Cilia's cheeks turned red and she tried her best to hide the shadow of a smile forming on her small lips.

" _Why_ , Cilia! You didn't tell me!" Julia exclaimed and grabbed her friend's hand.

"You know that I don't like discussing _such_ things, especially through letters or long-distance calls. But…" she looked at Julia and smiled in a way only person in love can smile "Two weeks ago, Marshall Douglas... _kissed_ me." Cilia couldn't help but to let out a small giggle.

Julia, not knowing why, started laughing as well and Luna and Rose quickly followed their tracks. They got so hysteric that Faith, Una and Nan looked at their daughters with glistening eyes of the past.

"I have never seen my girls in such state before! I'm sure one of them must have said something _terribly_ funny." Una said to her sister, her own eyes laughing at the image in front of her.

Faith didn't answer and only chuckled herself, remembering the old days when both she, her siblings and the Blythes spent their time in Rainbow Valley, laughing and joking under the Tree Lovers just like their own children did in that moment.

" _What_ are we even laughing about?" Julia was the first to ask when she wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

"I have no idea..." Cilia replied and opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted.

Merry put on his tap shoes and turned on the radio causing Julia to jump as if something pinched her.

" _Sing, Sing, Sing_! My favourite song of _all_ time!" she gasped and looked over to Gilly who immediately stood up and took Julia, 'his little dancer', in his strong arms and gently stepped with her nearer the radio.

Everyone started dancing. It felt almost like a sin, not to dance, especially on this beautiful day, down in Rainbow Valley. Jem took his wife in his arms and so did Shirley, Carl and Ken. Even Gilbert Blythe couldn't resist and both he and Anne, danced in the very middle of a not-small crowd of people to this fast but very enjoyable song.

Only Reverend John Meredith, his wife Rosemary and their son Jerry Meredith, with his wife Nan and their children Jake and Rose had to sit down and watch how others dance more or less gracefully. They didn't mind at all, for the view that they were watching was almost just as much fun as dancing itself.

Blythe stayed as well. He was never quite entertained by dancing and always claimed that others were much better dancers than himself. Not even Julia's beggings could make him to enter the dance floor.

It has to be said that even though the Blythes, Merediths and Fords were all really good dancers, it was Julia with Gilly who were the stars of the afternoon. Although Merry was a born tap-dancer, it was Julia and Gil who brought a new fashion of dancing into their family.

Their fast and hasty moves were unstoppable resulting in their cousins called them the " _Masters of Swing Dance_ " just the day after.

"How can you learn to dance like _this_?" Dr Gilbert Blythe questioned, looking almost astonished.

Eventually the song ended. Julia and Gil, who were both breathing heavily, gave each other a kiss on a cheek and then the rest of the family started clapping after their spectacular 'performance'.

"You will always be my best partner for dancing, Sheba." Gil said and grinned at her.

"I don't know _that_ , but I'm sure that _you_ will become a dancer one day. A world-known one! And then everyone will want to have an interview with me, the very first girl to swing-dance with Gilbert Ford." Julia replied and patted him on the shoulder.

Before he could say anything, his sister Leslie grabbed his hand quickly and started dancing with her brother. Julia chuckled when she saw how Gilly rolled his eyes and then winked at her. They were always the best of chums ever since they were small roly-poly babies.

"Bathsheba!"

Julia turned around and saw that Rose was calling her. She was just about to make her way to her cousin but then realised that Rose was pointing at something. It was Troy, who was walking through the gate to the Ingleside's garden, looking around and glancing at Julia meaningfully.

Julia's eyes widened in surprise but she immediately ran after him. He looked so… _cool_ , she thought when she saw him standing next to a cherry tree. And yet, why did he want to see her? _Alone_? Julia shivered at the very thought of it and felt how her heart started to beat faster and faster.

"Welcome back." Troy said when he saw her walking through the gate as quietly as she could.

"Thank you. And… how's life?" Julia replied trying to hide her excitement and rosy-red cheeks burning from emotions.

"So far, so good. Especially because _you_ came back. I've missed you. I've never realised how good friends we are until you left, you know." Troy said in his low tone which always gave every girl in Glen a thrill.

Julia stood quite still, partially realising _why_ Troy wanted to see her alone and feeling more and more unsure of keeping her own balance with her shaking legs.

"Well, of course we are, always were, I suppose." she replied decidedly after the moment of silence.

Troy took her hand gently and looked deeply in Julia's eyes making her blush even deeper. She didn't allow her hands to tremble but she couldn't hide how her eyes started to gleam. Only by then she really and truly realised (to her biggest surprise) that she was in love with Troy. How much she longed for him to kiss her and put his strong and big hands around her slim waist. It was her very first love and certainly a very exciting one too.

"Julia, can I ask you something?" he whispered, putting a strand of Julia's hair behind her ear gently.

"It depends." she whispered back and shivered under his touch and they both chuckled.

"Do _you_ have a sweetheart somewhere?" he asked her with a serious look in his pitch-black eyes.

"No, I don't."

"But there _has to_ be someone who tells you that you're the most beautiful creature in the world." he winked at her.

Julia's heart started to beat twice as fast when she was dancing with Gilly. She was positive that it will pop out of her chest in less than ten seconds.

"Not really, no." she whispered finally.

"Well then there _has_ to be someone who tells you how lovely it is to kiss you." he continued.

"No because I've _never_ been kissed. _Why_ all of those questions?" she breathed out eventually, trying to concentrate on her own thoughts which seemed completely blank at the moment.

"Because…" he leaned towards Julia's face so that their foreheads could almost touch "I'm in love with you."

There, he _said it_! She wasn't quite sure if she just imagined it or whether she was dreaming or not. Whatever the case, she decided that she truly didn't care and that the only thing she was sure about was that she would get her first kiss any second now. And from no one else _but_ Troy Rogers, just like she wanted.

"You are?" Julia smilled and raised her brow playfully.

"I'm afraid so." Troy replied and their lips met.

It was a very romantic but yet gentle kiss. There was something about it that it made her feel as if the whole world was just a product of her own imagination and that indeed there was nothing else in it except for _that_ kiss. It was Julia's first after all, something you couldn't tell about Troy's experience with kisses. In this moment Julia thought that she couldn't be happier, that life couldn't get any better nor any worse. Her face was radiating with this belief.

Blythe was behind the apple tree at the back of the garden the whole time. He was listening to their every word and watching their every move with a mournful expression on his face. He couldn't believe that Julia could be so foolish to let _Troy_ kiss her! Blythe knew Troy and never liked him for that matter. He was ready to jump out of his cache and punch the man in the face. Although he wouldn't admit it, even to himself, but his heart was breaking and his hopes were becoming more and more invisible as if they were behind a fog of uncertainty.

But Blythe wasn't the kind of man who liked violence. So he stayed where he was and whispered in a helpless tone: "Please, Lord, don't let him break her heart.", and he was right to say that, only neither him nor Julia was aware of that… _yet_.


	3. Summer '39

**Chapter III**

The summer of 1939 was a very remarkable season in Julia's life.

There wasn't a day when she could feel bored or tired and these two blessed months were like a real Heaven to her with all her family together and endless talking, joking, dancing and singing every single day. Of course, she had some time alone, once in a while, when she rode on River across the fields and along the sandy beaches of Four Winds.

But she spent some of her evenings walking along the shore with Rose, Cilia, Luna and Leslie and some others with Blythe while sitting under The White Lady in Rainbow Valley, listening to Blythe's newest poems and re-reading the old ones together.

 _If that's not what Heaven will look like, then I don't intend on dying at all._ she said one afternoon in the middle of July.

Everyone was aware of Julia's romance with Troy Rogers. No one was quite happy with it and that was something Julia couldn't understand at all. "Troy is a nice boy, don't get me wrong, darling, but… I just don't think that this is something _serious_." Faith told her daughter one evening.

"I don't intend on heaving something serious with Troy. I shall _not_ marry him nor anyone else, if that's what you mean." Julia replied coldly and her Mother couldn't help but to roll her eyes.

But Julia enjoyed how Troy was surprising her with their dances without music, right in the middle of the road; and running through the forest while holding each others hands; and covering her with compliments that would cause her cheeks turn fiery; and _kissing_ her… It was all so sweet that Julia thought that it _might_ get serious, one day in the future. But then Troy, too, didn't seem to consider their relationship as serious one either.

Whatever the level of seriousness of their relationship, Julia didn't think about him very often when she was dancing with Gilly or joking with Rose or chattering with Blythe or even while riding on River through the fields. _Well, after all, I will_ not _marry anyone who can't tame me._ she thought to herself, remembering that she was a Bathsheba after all.

On one warm morning in August, Julia woke up very early and didn't quite know what to do with herself. She opened the door of her wardrobe and put on her horse-riding suite and wrapped her neck with her ancient red scarf, which she always used to put on for riding.

She prepared River for a ride, huming the song of her parents' youth called _Let Me Call You Sweetheart_ , and decided on galloping to the Rainbow Valley because (surprisingly) she had never seen it during the sunrise.

Blythe Ford was sitting under the Tree Lovers, quietly reading " _The Lady of Shalott"_ , but looked up when he heard a fammiliar sound of horse hooves. Blythe looked almost stunned by the view he saw. He even thought for one precious moment that he was watching a heroine riding on her horse towards him with a wonderful sunrise behind her.

She looked very _dashing_ and do fair, he later reflected.

"Why, Blythe, what are you doing here at this early hour?" Julia asked when she jumped down from River and came closer to her cousin with a smile crossing her face.

"Good morning to _you_ , dear friend." he smiled "I couldn't sleep at all today, I felt just as if some fairy from Rainbow Valley was calling and calling me to come here." Blythe answered and grinned when Julia sat next to him, her cheeks positively red and her hair all messed up "And what about you?"

"I _could_ sleep but I woke up an hour ago and I just felt like watching a sunrise _here_." she said and put a strand of her hair behind her ear. She glanced at the sunrise behind her and was simply astonished by its beauty and more importantly by the beauty of Rainbow Valley under the spell of it.

It seemed as if Blythe _should_ recall a poem or at least a stanza from a poem about sunrises but he couldn't, and he thought that he didn't have to. He and Julia just remained in silence for a while in the magical air surrounding them.

"Tell me Blythe: how come some people don't believe in God when there are such _wonderful_ things on the Earth like sunrises?" Julia whispered wonderingly. She thought that she musn't speak too loud or the spell would break.

"People are just… human. And this is not a good thing at times." Blythe whispered in a serious tone.

Julia chuckled quietly and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I will be so lonely this year with you, Walt, Gilly, Rose and Jake going to Redmond…" she sighed.

"I don't suppose that you _will_ feel lonely, you have a too large family, haven't you?" Blythe laughed and so did his friend. Blythe didn't mention Troy who would also stay in Glen, because the very thought of Troy being with Julia all the time when he would be studying poetry miles away was just too much for him.

"And Merry asked me already to teach him some of the new steps for swing dancing." she grinned.

"See? You'll have plenty of things to do. And we will write to each other anyway, won't we?" he asked almost beggingly.

"Of course. _Long_ letters." she answered with a grin.

Blythe smiled and then they fell silent for a moment. It was never awkward for either of them to remain silent with each other, and that was something which neither of them had with any other of their cousins.

Blythe looked down on Julia and held back the desire to sigh in delight under the perfect image he was looking at. Even though Julia's hair was all messed-up, her face fiery, and there were small circles under her sleepy eyes, he thought that he could never call her more beautiful if she was wearing a beautiful and fashionable evening-dress. She was a real definition of "the woman of his dreams".

"Blythe?" Julia asked him quietly.

"Yes?" he replied softly.

"Do you think that this weird rumour about the war coming is true?" she asked almost breathlessly.

"I don't know, Sheba. For once and for all I can't feel sure either way about this war. Although Gil and Owen are _positive_ about it." he said and couldn't help but smile at the rememberance of his brothers' funny faces when they talked about going to Europe just a day before.

"Walt and especially Merry are positive as well. And they are so enthusiastic it makes me feel _sick_. But just like you, I don't know what to think about it." she sighed and looked in his eyes.

"Then let's not think about it anymore." Blythe said and kissed Julia's forehead tenderly "But what we _can_ think of is " _The Lady of Shalott"_." he opened the small book he held in his hands with a smile on his face. Julia nodded with a grin on her lips and Blythe started reading the first verses outloud.

It seemed as if ghosts of the past gathered around them and listened as well, feeling every word very deeply. Julia was almost certain that she could hear someone breathing next to her ear, and it _wasn't_ Blythe.

And so their dark thoughts faded away with the sun which started to run up the sky getting higher and higher with every passing second.

* * *

Later that afternoon, barefooted Julia ran to the shore, to have a small picnic with Troy. They had Mrs Rogers' prepared sandwiches and Aunt Una's famous brownies which they both ate in less then ten minutes. Then Julia laid down her head against Troy's sturdy chest and they both looked at the sea in front of them.

"You can tell Merry that my father agreed on keeping him at his farm for the next year." Troy said and brushed his fingers through Julia's hair.

"Really? Oh, that's _splendid_ news, Troy! Merry will be very happy, I'm sure." Julia replied joyfully and kissed him quickly on the lips.

"Yes, I suppose, and I will be glad to have a friendly face near me at work at this _horrid_ farm." Troy said with a disgust in his eyes.

"If you don't like farming, why won't you go to Redmond like most of my cousins did and study something you actually like?" Julia asked him.

"You know it's not possible with a kind of father _I_ have. He will never let me do anything else in my life but to keep up my work at the Rogers' Farm." he sighed "But I dream of becoming a lawyer, you know. Even Cathy thinks that I should tell my father a big and loud 'no' and study law."

Julia's brows raised a little " _Who_ is Cathy?" she asked.

Troy bit his lip but then grinned at 'his' girl and kissed her nose "Cathy Lee is from White Sands and her father works at our farm. She visits him everyday and brings him lunch so we talk from time to time. You're not jealous, are you?" he asked her with a smirk on his face.

"Jealous? _Me_? Don't you know me already, Mr Rogers?" Julia questioned him and hit him playfully in his arm.

"Good, you shouldn't be because there will never be anyone for me but you, the extraordinary Miss Blythe." he whispered to her ear and Julia's cheeks turned bright pink once again.

Then, unexpectedly, Troy sighed in a completely different manner.

"Oh, I _do_ hope this war is coming!" Troy said very suddenly.

Julia was very tired of hearing about the war. Merry wouldn't stop talking about it and her Father was lost in a very passionate discussion about it with Uncle Shirley for the whole afternoon just a day before.

"Why would you hope for such a thing to happen?" she asked him in surprise.

"Because it would allow me to do something that's not connected in any sense with farming. And I _want_ to fight." he emphasised the word 'want' so dramatically that it made his companion to shiver.

"Let's leave this topic there then, shall we? I'm _not_ interested in this war and now…" she stood up and took out her hand towards Troy "Will you join me?" she pointed at the sea, an excited look appearing in her eyes. Troy jumped from his seat, took laughing Julia in his arms and ran with her towards the waves.

* * *

On the last week of August, Walt, Blythe, Jake, Gil and Rose left Glen St. Mary and headed towards the Redmond College.

The House on the Hill felt very desolate without Walt huming from each corner of his home. Merry closed himself in his room and turned on the radio - that was always the sign that he was desperate to be alone. He missed his twin terribly during the last year of Walt's absence and almost decided on joing him in Redmond after the summer-holidays. Of course that didn't happen. "I have no brains for either English, French or other kind of maths or science _._ " he declared to his family with his head held high.

"Can I come in?" said a quiet voice behind the closed door of Julia's room.

"Of course, Cee." Julia replied and when Cee slowly entered the room, she took her little sister in her arms, kissing her frecled cheek tenderly.

"Julia, I'm scared." she whispered and hid herself in Julia's arms.

"Of what, sweetheart?" Julia asked and looked at her sister's miserable yet very sweet and dimpled little face.

"Of war. _Everyone_ talks about it now." she answered in a soft voice.

"Darling, there will be _no_ war, and if it will, we _will_ get through it; hand in hand, you and me with Mummy and Daddy and with Walt and Merry." she assured her sister with a smile.

"And we'll get through it without a scratch?" Cee inquired with furrowed brows.

"Without a _single_ scratch." Julia said in a serious tone and then both of the sisters spent the evening laughing and joking, not realising that it was their last peaceful evening for another six years of their lives.


	4. Dark Days Arrive

**Chapter IV**

"United Kingdom and France are officially at war with Germany." Dr James Blythe announced on the 3rd of September at Ingleside.

Grandmother and Granfather Blythe asked their all family members to come for a family dinner that day, and so the Blythes, Merediths and Fords were sitting in the Ingleside's living room with very pale faces when Jem entered the room with a newspaper in his hand.

Una's eyes were filled with a heartbrake she was carrying for over twenty years of her life; Faith grabbed Julia's hand and her daughter could feel how it trembled; Nan's and Di's husbands embraced their wives while the 'Ingleside twins' held each others hands; Rilla filled the air with a loud and terryfying " _Oh_!" and Gilbert Blythe put his wrinkled hand on his wife's shaking arm.

At the same time, Merry jumped from his seat and took Julia in his arms, waltzing with her for a moment " _Yes_! Finally I can be a part of something big and important to our country!" he shouted joyfully.

Julia pushed him away and looked at him angrily "Will you stop _Meredith_ Blythe?! Look at your Mother's face!" she hissed with tears coming to her eyes. Merry turned his head towards Faith's golden-brown eyes which were filled up with so much fear that she could hardly hold back her tears.

"Oh, _Merry_!" she said and stood up to kiss her son's cheeks.

Everyone was silent. Nobody dared to speak for nobody knew what to say, what to wish for or what to predict. The silence was broken by Grandmother Blythe's strong voice filling up the room "We are very proud of you Merry, and may God bring you home."

* * *

 _Dear Blythe,_

 _Merry and Troy enlisted today. They are both so excited and so happy that I'm sure that their faces hurt already from the constant smiling._

 _I am truly heartbroken. Not only becasue they will have to leave for their training in just two weeks' time but also becasue I can't enlist as a nurse yet. I have to wait until next May. This is way too long!_ _But I know that even if I were 18 today, I would stay at home to help Mum and Dad to cope with Merry's absence. Goodness, and Cee! She was crying for three hours today!_

 _I pray for both of my boys ever since the war was declared. But not_ only _for them, I pray for the poor Polish people as well, who were attacked so suddenly by this horrible Hitler and I pray for all the soldiers from all around the globe who already have or will enlist and go to the front as bravely as my brother and Troy will._

 _I am proud of them, I really am…_ but _Blythe, will I ever be able to sleep peacefully again when they're gone?_

 _Sorry, I'm_ so _selfish! I didn't even ask you anything about Redmond! Forgive me for being rude, please dear Blythe?_ _How is Redmond-life? Did you learn any new Shakespeare's sonnet? Or maybe you read another Jane Austen's book?_

 _Please Blythe, promise me that you won't join the horror of the war,_ please _, dear cousin and friend!_

 _Yours,_

 _Sheba Blythe_

* * *

 _Dear Bathsheba,_

 _Do not fear, I won't join 'the horror of the war'. Now I can almost hear you saying: "_ But _do you promise?", and yes, I_ do _promise you that I won't enlist now or any other day for that matter._

 _Stop saying that you are being selfish by telling me what you_ feel _! How I wish that I could embrace you in this very moment both of us sitting under the Tree Lovers. I would read to you one of the Uncle Walter's poems and remind you of 'keeping faith'._

 _It seems as if the war is already affecting my Redmond-life. Gil and Jake are whining about going to the front and I suppose that they will sign up after the first term. You probably ask if your brother Walter fancy enlisting; no, or at least I don't think so, he is actually the only person with whom I don't have to discuss whether I would rather fight in France or in Africa._

 _You guessed right; yesterday, we read Sonnet 116 written by W. Shakespaere. Julia, I only wish that my sonnets will get_ half _as good as this one, someday in the future._

 _Jake just came back from the library and was gently reminded by Mr Lawrence (his history teacher) that we have to turn off our lights._

 _I will write you more soon!_

 _Have courage, dear and if the courage will fail you, have_ hope _for hope is the only thing stronger than fear._

 _Forever Yours,_

 _Blythe Ford_

* * *

One day before Merry and Troy's departure, Julia was supposed to meet up with Troy in Rainbow Valley, just for a moment though as he was expected home for most of the afternoon so that his parents could spend last few peaceful hours with their only child.

Both Merry and Troy joined the LFC (Land Force Command) and got their khaki uniforms the day before which they wore proudly for the whole day.

The sunset was just about to start when Julia reached Rainbow Valley that afternoon. Her mind was whirling. Will Troy propose? she asked herself. They never actually talked about a possibility of getting engaged. What would she answer if he did ask her? She didn't know what to think or feel, so she focused on smiling and pretending that her heart wasn't beating as fast as it was.

Troy was already there, waiting for her with a funny smile on his lips and shining black eyes. He wasn't afraid of going to the front (nor was Merry) which Julia took as a good sign. The two of them were very excited and were positive that it is going to be the adventure of their lives.

Julia, although she hid her fear and doubts very neatly, she was in fact very happy for her boys but most of all she was extremely proud of them and what wonderful young men they grew into for those past few days. They were no longer boys after all, but almost grown-up men.

Julia flew into Troy's arms and kissed him on the lips.

"I'm such a lucky fellow to have you by my side tonight." Troy whispered to her ear, putting his arms around her waist.

"And you will have me tomorrow in the morning as well. I will wear my best dress, especially for you, so that I could make every other girl on the station jealous for kissing Troy Rogers goodbye!" Julia said excitedly, hiding all of her nerves inside. Troy chuckled.

He gently put his hand on her cheek and looked at her seriously "Julia, you know that I may _not_ come back…" he started slowly yet meaningfully.

"Don't say _that_ …" she interrupted him but her eyes went wide open.

"I will say it becasue it's true. So…" he sighed and started again "I may _not_ come back and that's why I wanted to ask you to marry me when… _if_ I come back." he said and took out the small diamond ring from the pocket of his uniform.

Julia's face got white and her mouth opened slightly. This was it! This was all she feared the most to happen that afternoon! There he was, the handsome Troy Rogers, standing in front of her, wearing his brand-new uniform and asking for her hand. Why, she vowed that she would _never_ marry! And the vows _can't_ be broken just like that! She couldn't possibly promise to marry Troy! _No_!

But then… she realised the cause of this sudden proposal; Troy may _not_ come back to her. She may not see his handsome face again or hear him whisper in her ear… Whenever she thought about the risk of Troy or Merry not coming back, she never truly belived in this possibilty. But _now_ she did, she finally realised that it _can_ happen, and there is no way to guarantee that it won't happen. It was almost as two pieces of her heart were borrowed with no promise of returning them back to her.

Julia gulped "I _won't_ promise you that I will marry you." she whispered eventually with her hands shaking from emotions.

"Why not, my love?" Troy asked her in a surprised tone. He was aware of how every other girl from Glen St. Mary would react to his proposal.

"I _can't_ promise you because I don't know if I love you enough to… _marry_ you." she replied looking helplessly at the ground.

Troy put his hand under her chin and raised her head so that she could look in his eyes "Then let's say that we are _just_ engaged; and it will be our own engagement." he whispered and grinned knowingly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes lightening a little bit.

"You will take the ring, and think of me whenever you will look at it. Then, after I come back from the war, you will say either yes or no to my proposal." he said with a smile.

Julia grinned at him and slowly took the ring from his hand "I will put it on a string and wear it proudly as my necklace for we aren't _exactly_ engaged. But I accept your offer Troy." she said and kissed his cheek with laughing eyes.

Troy laughed merrily and bent down to kiss her passionately "Now I have another reason to fight!" he said joyfully.

"Yes, you _do_." Julia agreed and chuckled quietly.

Troy looked at the sunset behind Julia and kissed her once again on the forehead "I have to go back now. See you tomorrow at the station. Don't forget!" he teased.

"I _won't_. Farewell, Mr Rogers." Julia said with a shaking voice.

Troy kissed her hands and turned around swiftly. He then marched to the Rogers' Farm, not even once turning around to see his girl looking at his back for another ten minutes until he vanished from her sight completely.

* * *

When Julia got home, she found her Mother, Father and Merry chatting together while sitting on the sofa in their living room.

Her parents got over the shock of Merry's new uniform and the fact that he would be leaving the next day. Faith was keeping up with her name and her husband could be nothing else but proud of his son who was so much like himself in his age.

Julia sat in front of them. Although during her meeting with Troy she felt peaceful and calm, now she felt as if her heart was stuck in her thoat making her unable to speak or even think. She was choking with fear of the future ahead.

"I am partially engaged." she announced without any emotions whatsoever.

Her parents looked at her with really confused expressions but Julia explained to them what "partially engaged" means and both of them looked pleased with this kind of engagement, even though they weren't exactly hoping for Julia to marry Troy whatever happens.

"To _whom_ are you engaged, may I ask?" Merry inquired with a funny look crossing his face.

Julia turned her head towards her older brother. She would normally jump on him and laugh with him till both of them would lie on the floor together, just like they always did when they were small children. However just in this moment the realisation of what's to come the next day hit her so unexpectadly that she indeed jumped on him but with a horrible sound of sobbing filling up the whole room.

"What will I do without _you_ , Merry?" she cried in his chest.

"You will _always_ be our Bathsheba. And you will take care of everyone, won't you?" he asked her tenderly stroking her hair.

"Certainly better than _you_ ever will." Julia's face lightened up a little bit when she realised that she _has_ to get stronger for her family, no matter how much she felt like crying in that moment, she had to keep a stiff upper lip and dry off her tears.

Merry and her parents chuckled quietly.

"Probably yes, but _will_ you take care of everyone for me?" he asked once more, looking in her eyes with enough strength to make Julia sit up straight and smile.

"I will take care of everyone, I promise. As long as the stars are spread over the night's sky." she vowed.

* * *

The Glen St. Mary's train station wasn't exactly full of soldiers, it was mostly filled with the soldiers' families.

Marshall Douglas, Mary Vance's oldest son, joined up just few days before leaving for training and now he was kissing his little mother's hands with greatest dignity, looking from the corner of his eye at Julia's cousin Cilia who also came along to say her goodbyes to both her sweetheart and her cousin Merry.

It was decided that only Jem, his wife and their children will gather on the train station. Everyone wanted to come of course, but then, if the whole clan of Blythes, Merediths and Fords would come to say goodbye to Merry, there probably wouldn't be enough space for at least half of the other soldiers' families to come to the train station.

Julia was dressed in her very best navy-blue pleated dress with a round hat covering her red curls and small black heels on her feet. Her appearence caught everyone's attention and even Mary Vance didn't have anything against the appearance of "Jem's girl" that day.

Julia promised herself that she won't cry nor that she will say that she doesn't won't her Merry or her Troy to go, because it _wasn't_ exactly true after all. She knew that she had to let them go, no matter how hard it was for her to do so. And so the brave Bathsheba kissed her brother's face tenderly and hugged him very tightly with no tears in her eyes.

"Be careful Merry, darling. And _write_ to us!" she whispered to his ear.

"I will be the most careful man in the army." he whispered back.

"If only I could believe that." she laughed and her brother winked at her in his old "naughty" way.

Merry went over to his parents who both had radiating smiles on their faces and hope in their eyes; and to his small sister Cee whose face looked really miserable but, the magnificent thing still managed to grin when Merry lifted her up and kissed her small forehead.

"Well now, _my_ Julia. Promise me that you won't let anyone kiss you until I come back." Troy said decidedly when he held Julia in his arms.

"I promise, dear Troy. And will you promise me the same thing?" she asked him with a grin.

"Of _course_ , sweetheart, but to be honest I don't think I would have a chance anyway." he chuckled looking around at all young soldiers around him.

"If a man wants something desperately, he will do everything to get it, you know that perfectly well." Julia said and smiled calmly.

"All aboard!" the dreaded voice of a conductor was heard.

" _Already_?" Faith said in despair and kissed Merry's hands once more before he jumped on the train with Marshall and Troy by his side. Julia stepped on the train's footboard quickly and let herself to be completely lost in Troy's last and final goodbye kiss.

"Write to me! _Both_ of you!" Julia said to her brother and her sweetheart with whom she was still holding hands, just before she came back down to the ground.

Her boys nodded gracefully with smiles on their faces and a reflection of an adventure forming in their eyes "Goodbye, Julia!" Troy said eventually when the train started to move. He squeezed her hand assuringly.

"Goodbye. I'll see you soon." she said, no longer able to hold back her tears which started strimming down her cheeks.

"See you soon, sister o'mine! Bye Mum and Dad and Cee!" Merry shouted to his family from the distance. Julia couldn't keep up with the train anymore and her hand gently slipped out of Troy's and Merry's hands.

She was in a complete shock. She could still feel the warmth of their hands on her own hands, she could still feel Troy's burning kiss on her lips and she could still see the awaiting of an adventure in each of their eyes.

And she didn't even realise when the small spot of a train, vanished from the line of the horizon, leaving so many people behind with nothing else but a _war_ between fear and hope in their hearts.


	5. Christmas

**Chapter V**

Julia was counting days until Christmas. She felt as if God was making each day ten hours longer and it felt like that because of the most horrible thing that her family was now doing ever since this memorable day in mid-November; they were waiting. Waiting for more and more news from Europe and Merry.

One way or another, Julia and her family managed to smile and laugh, and generally keep up the good spirits. Julia was the main reason for the encouragement; she was doing everything to make her family smile and she did a very good job. Not that she never had any breakdowns along the way but she hid them very gracefully and nobody apart from Walt, Blythe and Rose knew about them (it seemed easier for Julia to just send a letter to her closest friends than to talk about what's in her heart face-to-face with someone).

One evening at the beginning of December, Rilla Ford and Nan Meredith got phone calls from their oldest sons. Gil and Jake enlisted and will be leaving 'somewhere in January' for training. Gil signed up to the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) and Jake to LFC, just like Merry and Troy.

"I knew it was coming; deep inside me I think that I was even prepared for it in some ways. " said Rilla with a small grin on her pale face.

"You know, Rilla…" Nan squeezeed her sister's hand "I think I was prepared as well. I could read through the lines of Jake's letters what he's up to, this _dear boy_." she said and both she and her younger sister cried together for the next half an hour. After that they both stood up and started preparing Christmas cookies while singing " _Winter Wonderland_ " together in the kitchen, remembering that after all, they had each other to hold each others' hands whenever they needed it.

Julia knew that Gilly and Jake would enlist soon. They were both writing to her on regular basis and three quarters of thei letters was about war and "how brilliant it would be to be a part of it". When she learned the news, she felt very downhearted and stayed in her room for the whole evening. Her handsome cousins too heard the Piper's song and would be gone soon. "Who will be next?" she thought and shivered, feeling how the wave of coldness crossed her body.

22nd of December, the day expected by everyone, arrived eventually and the whole Blythe, Ford and Meredith clan gathered on the train station to greet their 'Redmond students' for Christmas.

Blythe, Rose, Gil and Jake were greeted by the bunch of happy faces and by the snow falling down on their heads as soon as they stepped off the train.

"Thank Goodness we will have Christams with snow this year!" Jem said when he kissed his son on the forehead.

"I always thought of 'snowy Christmas' as a good sign." Blythe said when he got a big kiss from his sister Leslie on his red cheek.

"It surely is." Gil said joyfully.

"Let's go and _dance_ between snowflakes!" Julia shouted and grabbed Walt's and Cee's hand and the three siblings waltzed from the train station to Ingleside with their cousins singing and dancing with them.

And they _almost_ looked like little children again.

* * *

"Julia, sweetie, did you add flour to your cookies?" Rose asked her cousin in a doubtfull voice.

The whole family was in prepartions for Christmas Day which was to be the next day. Grandmother Blythe, Grandmother Rosemary, Faith, Una, Julia and Rose were all stuck in the Ingleside's kitchen, being hardly able to move, preparing all dishes from the old family recipes.

"What do you mean, _Anna_ Rosemary? Of _course_ I did, I'm not such a bad cook, am I?" Julia asked her almost angrily but she went hurriedly over to the oven and looked inside. When she saw her cookies inside, she sighed with disappointment "I think that maybe I didn't add _enough_ flour… I know I _did_ add it but, oh, why am I so…" she started dramatically but her grandmother interrupted her.

"So like _me_?" Grandmother Blythe finished and laughed. Her sweet voice filled up the whole kitchen so beautifully that for a moment they all forgot about Merry, Gil and Jake going to the front in a few months' time and replaced it with excitement for the upcoming Christmas.

"Don't worry, dear, we will start them again." Grandmother Rosemary said warmly and put her arm on Julia's shoulders.

She sighed again and took off her apron "This time, I will keep out of the kithen's zone, for I think that I will not make a great cook, not _ever_. Oh, why people write recipes? They make your life so complicated!" she exclaimed and left the room.

Faith was the first one to let out a small giggle "I sometimes wonder how such thoughts come up in Julia's head." she said.

"It runs in the family, I suppose." Rose chuckled, looking at Grandmother Blythe meaningfully.

* * *

The Christmas dinner was delightful. The dishes were full of wonderful food and the table was surrounded by laughter and chatter.

There was one empty chair in the place where Merry was always sitted, right next to Julia's chair near the window. Sometimes each Blythe, Ford or Meredith would turn their heads towards the empty chair and sigh, lost in their own gloomy thoughts about what's to come or not to come.

No one talked about the war though, at least not during dinner. Not even Gil or Jake dared to say a word about the war events that were happening in every corner of Europe, for fear that this wonderful, their last for a long time Christmas atmosphere will vanish completely. Later on though, men went to Dr Gilbert Blythe's office and spent two happy hours of chatting about nothing but the war events, leaving women and all girls to themselves in the living room.

"So tell, me, Rose dear, what is it about this mysterious John Richardson, you mentioned to me about in your letters?" Julia asked her cousin with a raised brow.

Julia, Rose, Leslie, Cilia and Luna were sitting in the Ingleside's living room, all together on the one sofa near the fireplace, looking almost like five angels being covered by shadows of the flames coming out of the fireplace.

Rose's cheeks flushed with bright red "Well, he's in his last year of Redmond and helps me with my History classes, or rather helps me _and_ Jake in our History classes." she said and took a sip of cocoa from her cup she was holding.

"And..?" Julia inquired with a raised brow and all the girls sitting around looked at Rose expectantly.

Rose chuckled "Oh, Julia, I can never hide anything from you, can I? Well, after first two months in Redmond, John wanted to spend some evenings with me alone, while walking through the park together or going to a dance…" she started with her eyes shining.

"You didn't tell me anything like that in your letters, you _horrible_ creature!" Julia exclaimed and patted Rose's hand quickly.

"Well, anyway…" Rose grinned lightly "I suppose that after all, I'm in love as well!" she said eventually and all the girls laughed happily.

"That's splendid, Rose." said Leslie and then turned her head to Julia "Did _you_ have any letters from Troy, Sheba?"

Julia sighed "Yes, I had two so far. They are _full_ of military training and guns and nothing else really. I'm quite disappointed I must say because I was so excited about getting my first _love_ letters!" she concluded with a loud " _Oh_!" at the end.

"Well, he is excited about fighting, that's all, dear." Rose said in a matter-of-fact tone "And what about Merry?"

"He's the same. His letters are full of hopes for fighting as soon as possible. " _My fingers are shaking from excitement, Julia_ " he wrote in his last letter." Julia said and rolled her eyes.

"Then I suppose _I'm_ the lucky one!" Cilia said in the most vibrant tone "Marshall's letters are full of love and he hardly says anything about the guns or the training itself. Oh, it's so nice to be in love!" she sighed and put her hand on her forehead in a very theatrical way.

The girls giggled and then stopped when the door opened swiftly and Blythe came into the room and sat down beside his sister.

"Bored already of a men-talk?" Julia asked him playfully.

"Completely disinterested." Blythe replied and grinned "Someone will join me for a walk through Rainbow Valley?" he asked looking at each of the girls but the most meaningfully at Julia.

"No! It's too cold for me!" Rose crossed her arms.

"Oh, you're _so_ strange sometimes! When you'll be eighty and have white hair, you will regret it." Julia said to the girls and she stood up taking out her hand towards Blythe who gently put his own into hers.

"Maybe." Leslie said and chuckled.

* * *

Rainbow Valley looked perfectly peaceful, just like it should look on the Christmas Day. The grass and the trees were covered in a white snowy blanket. Rainbow Valley looked as if it was a different world, a different universe, filled with magic of the past and future in the air.

Blythe looked positively handsome with his black glossy hair falling on his forehead and intrigued eyes which followed Julia's every move. He was taller, Julia realised as she had to put her head quite high in the air to look in his grey-eyes. She thought whether he would too follow the Piper's calling one day, but she would not dare to talk with him about that, it felt almost inappropriate on a night like this.

Julia herself looked like a real beauty, especially with her hair put up in the new fashion, her cheeks reddish from the cold and her hazel shining eyes which seemed to dance with the stars they were following on the night's sky.

"How are you Blythe, but please be honest with me." Julia looked up at his face and put her arm in his own.

"Everything is fine, well at least as fine as the things _can_ be fine during the war." he sighed helplessly "I'm afraid I'll be very lonely when Gilly and Jake will leave me and Walt in January."

Julia squeezed his arm gently "You'll be just fine and anyway you will be able to write to me more often." she smiled at him warmly.

He grinned "That's very true." he looked in her eyes shyly "Sheba... are you happy with Troy?" he asked her suddenly.

She looked at him with a confused expression on her face "Why this sudden question?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Every question is sudden." he replied "Now answer me, are you happy with him?" his eyes getting darker with every second.

"I suppose I am, for now." she replied softly, looking at the ground as if it was a very regular question.

"Do you _love_ him?" he asked again, his tone getting more and more low.

"I don't know that _yet_." she said and touched the diamond ring which she was carrying on her neck "But I think I might be _in_ love, it's quite less significant, don't you think?"

"Yes, it is." he gulped and looked at the horizon in front of him.

Julia looked at his face and she stopped walking, causing Blythe to look back at her " _What_ is it Blythe? Something is bothering you, I could see that ever since you came back from Redmond." she said seriously.

"It's just… I'm afraid that if I say it, I will loose your friendship." he said eventually, making a start to the coversation he was dreading so much for a very long time and yet longing for it as well.

"It's not possible." she assured him with a sweet smile.

"Everything is possible, dear." he answered with a bitter grin which soon disappeared from his face "The thing that is bothering me, was bothering me for almost two years now." he began slowly.

"Two years, Blythe? And you didn't tell me earlier?" Julia said, shocked. She and Blythe always told each other everything, ever since they were small kids running around the Rainbow Valley. Julia thought that Blythe acted in a very strange way, there was something about his eyes which caused her to shiver whenever she looked at them. She did _not_ like the direction in which this conversation was going.

"I couldn't." he said again "It wasn't exactly bothering me. It's a very nice, very _wonderful_ feeling you know, that I carry in my heart. Yet, it's getting harder to bear it. So I suppose that I just have to tell you." he said quickly and started breathing heavily.

"Yes?" Julia inquired.

"I love you, dear Bathsheba." he whispered with a shaking voice and his eyes filled up with passion and relief over saying these few words. Julia's face got as white as the snow lying around her. _So it is true_ , she thought, _what everyone was gossiping about, it's true_. She didn't feel anything in that moment, it was a real shock to her, the sudden realisation that she has to stay calm when she actually wants to scream.

Then she felt how her heart started to beat faster and how much she wanted to cry on her Mother's shoulder, something she didn't want to do even when Merry and Troy came back from town in their brand new uniforms.

"Blythe, I…" she said in a voice which she had never heard before.

"Julia, I know that you don't love me in that way. I _know_." he whispered again, his voice fulfilled with passion "But I _do_ love you, as simply and as overrated as those three words can sound to you." he tried his best to grin "There can never be a more admirable, astonishing or exquisite person alive for me. I think of you everyday and whenever I see you, I feel as if I really had wings attached to my back which can carry me far far away to paradise." he said with his eyes glistening in the dark.

"Oh, _Blythe_ …" Julia's voice cracked.

Blythe put his trembling hands in her own shaking ones "I didn't think that one can love another as much as I love you in this very moment." he said in despair and put his hands on Julia's neck. She shivered under the touch of his skin but she couldn't move at all, her body wouldn't allow her.

And then… Blythe _kissed_ her.

It was a very gentle and kind kiss, Blythe's very first. Julia thought that it didn't feel right to kiss Blythe, she wanted to escape somewhere really far away but neither her hands nor her legs would allow her to move. But she had to admit that this kiss really meant something, and this something was actually really hard to ignore. This kiss, although gentle and kind, was as captivating for both of them as if it was extremely romantic and passionate.

Then, just after few seconds Blythe stopped and looked in Julia's eyes. His face was radiating with love _and_ shame _and_ passion _and_ fear _and_ hope. Julia felt her body again and hit him in the chest "You shouldn't have kissed me!" she almost shouted, her cheeks growing redder and redder.

"I know, I just couldn't resist it. I'm sorry." he said quickly and took Julia's hands in his own.

Julia pushed his hands away "You ruined everything!" she exclaimed and looked in his eyes with anger which she would later regret.

"What did I ruin?" he asked in surprise.

"Our friendship! How can I look at your face again, not remembering… _this_?" she said in frustration, her eyes filling up with tears and realisation of what just happened.

He sighed "You wanted to know what is bothering me." he said eventually.

" _Yes_ , but I didn't want you to kiss me! I am… _engaged_!" she said bitterly.

"Not exactly." he took her handsin his one more "Please Julia, can you at least try to love me in that way? _Please_?" he asked her in despair.

"I know I can _never_ love you in that way." she said coldly, in a voice which again wasn't her own.

"Never?" he repeated in a whisper.

" _Never_." she said sternly and felt how fast her heart was beating.

Blythe looked in Julia's eyes once again thinking of what to do, or what to say. But he realised that he didn't have to do anything, it wouldn't change anything. So he turned around quickly and started walking off to Ingleside, not turning around even once, in fear that he will change his mind and come back to her.

Only then Julia realised what actually happened, what Blythe said, what Blythe did, what she said and what is about to happen. Her friendship was destroyed and Blythe was left completely broken-hearted. "Oh, _God_!" she gasped and put her hands on her cheeks, feeling how tears started running down her face "Blythe, come back! _Blythe_!" she shouted after him.

But Blythe Ford didn't come back, he came back to Ingleside just to ask for his excuse to go home.

His mind was blank and he couldn't feel anything until he reached home and jumped on his bed. Then he began to cry, not realising that his Bathsheba was doing the same in her own bed at the House on the Hill.


	6. 14th May 1940

**Chapter VI**

Julia spent three hours talking with her parents about what had happened between her and Blythe after the Christmas dinner.

Mother embraced her in the most tender way which only mothers know, and she was stroking Julia's hair while telling her that nothing what she said was wrong and that Blythe really shouldn't have kissed her. Father agreed and added that everything will get solved in its time and that Julia should get on with her things as if nothing happened. Well, it was certainly easier to say so than to actually do so but somehow Julia managed to laugh (although quite bitterly) and dance when New Years' Eve arrived.

Blythe was indeed broken-hearted, firstly because he knew that Julia could never love him in a way he loved her, and secondly because of the way she treated him on Christmas Day. It seemed as if the life flew out of his soul, and his thoughts were drifting somewhere between the clouds. He didn't talk to Julia, or at least not when he didn't need to. To be precise, he hardly talked with anyone since the Christmas Day, but everyone respected him doing so.

Julia on the other hand was simply too scared to talk to him about what happened, and somehow knew that even though if they had been able to speak to each other, their relationship would have never been the same. And she herself, for that very reason, was broken-hearted as well just as much as Blythe was.

Everyone in their family knew what happened and felt sorry for both Blythe and Julia and sympathised with both of them. Julia decided on not telling Troy about it and Merry kept her secret away from him. It just didn't seem right to tell Troy that Blythe confessed that he loves his _fiancee_ and later on _kissed_ her.

In January Rose, Blythe and Walt came back to Redmond whereas Jake and Gil got their khaki uniforms shortly after the New Years' Eve and left Glen St Mary at the end of January for their training in Toronto, leaving two more empty chairs for the next Christams dinner at Ingleside in 1940.

* * *

13th March 1940

 _Dear Julia,_

 _How I wish you were here with me, in Redmond! Believe me, I really don't like any of the girls here. They judge everyone and they look like perfect porcelain dolls who are waiting for the first chance to get a husband. I don't know how they can live under these countless layers of make-up on their faces… Well, at least I have my John with whom I can talk to whenever I like, especially because my dear brother Jake is so far away from me now. John really is dearer to me with every passing day._

 _Oh, dear Sheba, I'll be honest with you, he's just perfect in_ every _way! He's so kind and funny and very very clever, I'm telling you. I got my first kiss from him just two days ago! Now I know why you were so excited when Troy kissed you for the first time in June._

 _I'm so afraid, you know, John is thinking about joining up… I really don't know if I can endure it ever since Jake left for training almost three months ago._ Three months ago _! Dear me, when does this time go?_

 _I'm so glad that you "_ almost" _recovered from the 'Blythe situation'. In my opinion you should keep up your good work, like you always do and just… let the things happen._

 _Julia, you'll turn 18 in two months and I know that you want to go overseas as a VAD, and I know you_ will _, but wait after the summer holidays, please? I have to spend some time with you before you go, my dear friend._

 _You're asking me about Blythe. Well, he is fine and all his teachers tell him that he is their best student with amazing imagination. He reads all day and night all of his poetry books which I could never understand and you_ always _could. I know he misses you, but I have a feeling that he's too afraid to write to you or sometimes even say your name… I feel sorry for him and that's why we spend lots of time together, although I can see that I am not quite the person he wants to talk to. But he seems alright, so don't worry, he'll get over it in time. Besides, there is this one girl, called Helen Sampson who is spending lunch-breaks with him. They are talking about poetry of course and it seems as if Helen is madly in love with Blythe, who wouldn't even dream of loving her back; Julia, she wears a 'bright red lipstick' for_ every _lesson!_

 _Darling, I have to go now, it's almost midnight!_

 _I'll write to you soon!_

 _Yours,_

 _Anna Rosemary Meredith_

 _P.S._ Do _tell me whenever you hear something from Merry or Troy! Are they going overseas anytime soon?_

* * *

1st April 1940

 _Dear sister o'mine,_

 _We are going overseas next week, as you know. It's been way too long, we've all waited too long. I think we were all ready for fighting two months ago!_

 _Anyway, I don't have much time for writing but at least I hope that you will be able to read my scribbles._

 _Everything is fine, so don't you worry about me, you dear heart. I'm so happy to hear that you're alright now and that you take such a good care of Mum, Dad and Cee. You are truly an angel! I hope Troy realises just how lucky he is!_

 _It's sad that I have to leave our old Canada-land with Jake and Gil training as bravely as they can. I heard that they will end their course in around a month so certainly much earlier than we did!_

 _Well, at least the training made us both Lieutenant Meredith Blythe and Lieutenant Troy Rogers. Tell me, how fancy do our names sound?_

 _Dear sister, I have to go now so I'm sending you, Mother, Father and Cee lots of kisses for you to share between the four of you._

 _I'll write you a longer letter when I'll arrive in England._

 _Your brother,_

 _Lieutenant Meredith Blythe_

* * *

14th April 1940

 _Dear heart,_

 _We are finally in London. Hurrah! London didn't change much since I've been here last time and it feels like home again!_ _Although some of its corners have been damaged by this horrible bombing, its own, unique atmosphere will never vanish. I promise to take you here one day._

 _We are leaving for France in a week with loads of British soldiers by our side. So practically, I'll be on the front in less than two weeks' time. You know that both Merry and I are excited. We are both feeling that this whole war-adventure is going to make real men out of us, hopefully at least._

 _Darling girl, how are you? Do tell me that you don't worry too much, please, it would give me the greatest relief if you really weren't so worried like you seem to be in your letters. With every day nearer France, I really feel that I will survive the war and I want you to know that I'll come back to you, no matter what, and if you'll accept my porposal, I will marry you straight after the war._

 _I so wish to dance with you tonight, it's such a wonderful evening with a full moon and the sky filled with billions of stars. I still remember how we both laid on the grass last August and we watched them together on our Canadian sky. I remember you saying: "_ I don't want someone who promises me the moon or the stars but someone who will watch them with me every night _"._ _I'll always remember that night, it was so marvelous and magical. And_ you _looked so dashingly beautiful with your shining red hair covered by the shadow of the moon and your pale, perfectly smooth face with eight (I counted) sweet freckles on your cheeks…_

 _And with that I shall end up my letter, for I have to go to sleep now, although I really don't want to._

 _Goodnight my love,_

 _Always yours,_

 _Lieutenant Troy Rogers_

* * *

"Happy birthday, Julia!"

Julia was awoken by her little sister Cee who jumped swiftly on her bed with a peace of paper in her hand.

"Oh, thank you, Cee." Julia answered and rubbed her eyes sleepily. She sat on her bed and took the handed piece of paper examining it carefully.

"I drew it for you." Cee whispered proudly. The drawing represented a not childish at all, posture, of no one else but Julia sitting on her horse River, with her eyes closed and a dreamy look on her face, facing the horizon.

Julia whooped and kissed Cee on her red cheeks "Oh, it's _beautiful_! I didn't know that you can draw like that!" she gasped, still looking at the drawing in her hand with pride in her eyes.

Cee blushed heavily "It's not that good." she said shyly.

"It is very _very_ good, Cee! I can clearly see that your Miss Lawson is a really great Art teacher!" she said and smiled at her baby-sister. The door of Julia's room opened again and Julia and Cee turned their heads towards the two happy people standing in front of them.

" _Happy birthday to_ you _! Happy birthday to_ you _!_ " Mother and Father started singing joyfully. Father was holding a small package in his hands and quickly handed it over to his daughter. Julia giggled and took her present. She then hugged both of her parents tightly and kissed their hands.

"I hope you are going to like it, darling." Father said and winked at Julia knowingly.

She opened it quickly, with hungry eyes. The packaging paper was soon all over Julia's bed, covering litte Cee's hands and legs. When Julia saw what her present was, she covered her mouth with her hand "Oh! Goodness!" she gasped. In her hands was a brand new portable radio which she was dreaming of for a very long time, " _so that I can always have music by my side_ " she used to say whenever she spoke of it.

"Oh, thank you _so_ much!" she said and kissed her Mother's cheeks and her Father's nose.

"We wish you all the greatest happiness, my dear." said Father with a smile on his lips "We hope that your life will be very magnificent and that you will always be able to do what you want to do and that you'll be surrounded by people who love you in every situation of your life."

Julia's eyes filled up with tears of joy and to hide them, she chuckled "No matter what happens, I know that there can never be more wonderful parents than Faith and James Blythe!"

* * *

By the evening, every Blythe, Ford and Meredith had their stomachs' full of birthday chocolate cake and their ears filled up with music from Julia's new portable radio which was turned on for the whole afternoon.

Julia thought it was one of her loveliest birthday parties. It could never be the loveliest one because of the war going on in the world and with Merry and Troy fighting in France and Walt, Blythe, Gil, Jake and Rose so far away from Glen St Mary. But after all, she enjoyed 'her day', especially because her dear Uncle Bruce, his wife Hannah and their sweet two year old girl May, arrived to stay for a week of vacation at Ingleside after their very busy year in Toronto.

Julia spent her day in a very lovely family atmosphere which she knew she needed desperately. She, Cilia, Leslie and Luna were dancing for the whole two hours and singing with their whole family for another two. There was no person in a distance of two miles who couldn't hear the happy voices of Leslie and Julia who sang at the top of their voices " _I'll be seeing you_ ".

After all, the party was announced a big success and everyone went home in good spirits.

Julia couldn't believe that she was eighteen already, she thought it even felt weird just to say: " _Yes, I'm eighteen years old_." but then she was over the moon that she could finally join the VADs. It was as if a new stage of her life was just about to begin, and she couldn't feel more excited and happy about it. Just before the party she agreed with her parents that she would join up after the summer holidays (just like she promised Rose to do so).

The day of her 18th birthday was like a day-vacation for Julia and it gave her courage which she intended to use for when the dark days of war would come again. What she didn't know was that the dark days would come even sooner than she could ever dream of.

When Mr and Mrs Blythe with Cee and Julia by their side, came back home that evening, they were all lost in talking over the wonderful weather which was occuring during that day. Cee went to bed almost immediately with Mother and Father following her upstairs to give her their usual goodnight-kiss in her bed. Julia was left alone in the living room and only then she realised that she didn't check their mailbox yet. She was expecting the first letters from Merry and Troy from the front and another one from Gilly and his first air-plane flight.

She flew outside and opened their red mailbox hurriedly. There was no letter excpet for the small orange envelope. Julia thought it very weird but would never forget its colour after she read its content.

It was a telegram which informed Julia that Lieutenant Troy Rogers was killed in action at the Battle of France on 14th of May 1940.


	7. The Letter

**Chapter VII**

It's very hard to imagine what feelings will overcome you when you hear the news of a sudden death of someone who is dear to you. One person is hysteric, is crying all day and night, and swearing that he or she will never love again (and sometimes they keep that promise). Whereas the other person is overpowered with the horrible news and will never believe in them.

Julia Blythe was neither the first nor the second person, she was quite in the middle. She knew that Troy was dead, she could _feel_ it but she wouldn't go into hysterics. Instead she was lying in her bed for the next two weeks, doing nothing but read, read and _read_ each of Troy's letters that he sent to her from the beggining of the war. She cried bitterly on the first night after the news came but after that she wouldn't shed a single tear because all the other tears came out of her eyes that night and wouldn't return in a long, long time.

Faith was very worried about her daughter. She was spending half a day trying to persuade her to go outside and play with Cee, but she wouldn't even listen to one word her Mother said. Julia's cousins were guests of the House on the Hill every single day and they tried their best to talk to Julia, which turned into another failure. Grandmother Blythe and Grandmother Rosemary made Julia's favourite chocolate cake; Merry wrote that he is keeping strong even though he is in the trenches and that she should keep strong as well, again nothing convinced Julia to come back from her 'depths of despair'.

Jem examined his oldest daughter in worry that she started developing first stages of depression, but fortunately that wasn't the case. She just couldn't cope with one particular thought that was on her mind for the whole time: " _And I didn't even have time to consider his proposal, I surely must have let him go then_.". She couldn't help but to think that if she had accepted his proposal in the first place, he wouldn't get killed because he would be more careful.

But on one day, one very special thing happened which made Julia make up her mind and get out of bed for once and for all; Blythe finally gained strength to write to Julia. It was a six pages long letter which was written so beautifully that after reading the last sentance, Julia's eyes turned completely watery. He wrote how sorry he was for everything that happened and that he didn't write to her earlier, "... _it was very childish of me, and I shouldn't act childish as I'm nineteen years old!_ " he wrote. " _Oh, what I would do without you, you, darlingest of all darlings! These past five months were a real torture to me…_ " she wrote back to him at the beggining of June.

And so Julia's spirit started coming back but still the dark thoughts were remaining in her mind every single day, although not _all_ the time. Julia was quite surprised that she wasn't exactly grieving over Troy, she rather had a feeling that she didn't do enough for their relationship and now she would never be able to fulfill it. Also she didn't know how Troy actually died. " _Did he die in agony? Or maybe he died quickly, without any pain? But then… How do we know if death_ can _be painless?_ " she questioned in her long letter to Walter. Walt and Julia always shared a special relationship and when Troy died, he was one of the most important reasons for Julia to get better. Walt was sending her flowers every week with lovely notes attached to them which would always make her smile and remind her that Walt was there, and always will be there, whenever she needs him.

Blythe was another reason for which Julia got stronger. It almost seemed as if Blythe had given her her life back. Although they didn't see each other for another month after Blythe's first letter came, they grew much closer together than they ever did before. They were sending each other long letters, "too long", as Leslie referred to them. Blythe sent Julia about ten of his new poems which wrote since that gloomy Christmas Day, and he felt as if he started living for something again.

At the same time, Julia's thoughts were also far away in France where her brother Merry was fighting bravely in the Battle of France. Julia, and everybody else felt closer to war than ever. Julia realised that Merry, like Troy, can die in the most unexpected place and hour. She couldn't think about it for too long though, for it hurt her excruciatingly to even imagine that something can happen to her brother.

But even though Julia and her family were very fearful about Merry, they were incredibly proud of him. Jem and Faith got a letter from Merry's general who said that Merry was one of the best soldiers in his division and probably the bravest. Also Merry, being 'merry', wasn't entirely affected by Troy's death. He even wrote to his sister: " _I think that the day before his death, he knew that something will happen to him, but he really was ready for the Piper to come to him and play him His old song. And, maybe, I think I was prepared for it in some ways as well._ ".

Gilly, on the other hand, almost finished his training for a pilot and he, along with Jake, were awaiting to go overseas in around three weeks time. Gilly wasn't as excited as Jake, Troy or Merry were about going to the front. He was actually quite scared and his letters to Julia were quite long, for he thought that after writing every word to her, something would protect him from every harm from the war which was getting nearer and nearer to him. Julia seemed as if she was now Gilly's main advisor and in many ways she found it very relaxing, just to write back to him and telling him how proud she is and how bravely he behaves.

Her other concern was Walt. She was terrified by the thought that he could enlist and follow his twin in the war-adventure. But with every letter or 'phone-call they exchanged, he was reassuring her that he wasn't interested in the war at all. _Uncle Walter wasn't interested as well and then…_ Julia thought to herself but never said it outloud.

* * *

25th of June arrived and brought Walt, Blythe and Rose back from Redmond. A big family dinner was prepared that day in Ingleside. _Almost_ everyone was together again and all the people in Rainbow Valley had music filling up their ears and a wonderful summer breeze filling up the air surrounding them all.

Rainbow Valley looked positively magical and Blythe nearly thought that he saw a dryad hiding behind the Tree Lovers, calling him to go and come back to his old days of his childhood. The boys and the girls sat down in a big circle down in the Rainbow Valley on the huge purple blanket. They all felt that they have to spend the summer together for they didn't know what future might hold for each of them until the summer of 1941 will arrive.

"Are you excited about Queen's, Owen?" Blythe asked his younger brother while straightaning up his back.

"Yes, very. I hope I will make some friends eventually." Owen replied and smiled shyly in a very 'Owen-ish' manner.

"Or maybe _girl_ friends?" Rose giggled and the others started chuckling. Owen's cheeks turned fiery and he looked on the grass, pretending he didn't quite hear what his older cousin said. Cee patted Owen's hand gently, and he smiled at her kindly.

"Rose, stop it. You're making Owen feel embarrassed." Julia whispered to Rose but couldn't help but to smile at her younger cousin sitting in front of her.

Rose rolled her eyes and put her arms around Julia's shoulders "My darling Julia, tell me when was the last time you rode on your River?" she asked suddenly with a raised brow and a grin hiding in the corner of her mouth.

"At my birthday party." she replied hurriedly, knowing that she can't hide anything from her dear old friend Rose.

" _Ha_!" Rose chuckled "Then I insist you will ride today. Julia you have to become _Bathsheba_ again!" she said in a begging tone.

Julia sighed and looked at the space in front of her "I know, I wasn't myself lately. I mean I _was_ but not entirely. It's so weird what dissapearence of one person can do with your life." she said absent-minded.

"Dear, you have to get better for us, for your family but especially for _yourself_. I won't let you sign up unless you'll get better. You'll do this for me, won't you?" she asked and grinned knowingly at Julia.

"Yes, I _will_." she answered with laughter which for the first time in quite a while sounded like a real laughter.

"Who wants to listen to the war-news?" Grandfather Blythe shouted from the Ingleside's verandah to the young people sitting in Rainbow Valley. Everyone except Julia and Blythe stood up hurriedly and ran to Gilbert who opened the door wider and let in all of his grandsons and granddaughters into the living room.

Blythe glanced at Julia shyly, with atiny shadow of a smile running through his face. When their eyes met, Julia smiled at him and sat down next to Blythe putting her head gently on his shoulder, like she always used to do "I knew _you_ would stay." she said to him.

"I had enough of this war already." he replied, glancing at her from time to time "Besides in ten minutes time everyone will come out again and talk about the latest war-news whether we like it or not."

"Yes." she said and then sighed.

"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Julia looked up at him seriously "Blythe, I don't know how to live as I lived before… before… Troy… _died_." she said eventually between unavoidable deep breaths "It seems as if my whole world is upside down. I don't know how to be _myself_ again." she turned her face away, as the tears started springing up in her eyes.

"Yes, you _do_ know how to be yourself." Blythe said and put his hands on Julia's arms "You know how to live and you know how to be happy." he said and took her hand in his "You just have to _allow_ yourself to live again." he whispered and looked directly into her eyes.

"You're right… that's _exactly_ it." Julia's lips turned into a small grin "But it's not that easy, Blythe. " she replied slowly.

"Julia, listen, you just have to close the door of the past, and open a new door, fulfilled with dreams and hopes for the future." he smiled in a way which he always used to smile whenever he knew he said something right "It's not as easy to do as it sounds, I know. But you can do it, I believe in you entirely." he grinned at her.

Julia quickly kissed him on the cheek "What would I do without you, Blythe Ford?" she questioned, putting her hand into his.

Blythe blushed "You would do _just_ fine. You always do. You are a very strong and independent person, you know that yourself." he said warmly.

"It's funny how people don't realize who they are until someone else tells them." she whispered dreamily, playing with a small flower in her hand.

Blythe looked at her and caught his breath. He thought that she looked like a dryad herself, with her head bent down like this, the sun shining on her dreamy, pale face almost making it to shine too. Her long eyelashes covering her hazel-eyes, and her red curls flowing down to her shoulders falling slowly on her pink cheeks, making her to put a strand of her hair behind her ear in the most graceful way.

"I think everyone knows who they are but we are all just too focused on what others are like, we don't realize how wonderful _we_ truly are." Blythe whispered back and smiled, looking in Julia's eyes lovingly.

She looked at him curiously. Yes, she was aware of his loving expression in his grey-eyes, but made herself not to think about it, and although it hurt her in a way and wasn't so easy to forget about, she smiled back at Blythe. In this moment the eyes which met Blythe's eyes had a hint of Bathsheba's spirit in them and he saw that immediately. Before he could say anything, they both heard Leslie's yelp from the Ingleside's living room.

"We lost the Battle of France!"

Julia gulped and suddenly found herself in Blythe's strong and supportive arms which she knew she needed most "Oh, Merry…" they both said in the same moment filling up the silence between their embrace.

* * *

But Merry was fine. He got through the battle " _without a scratch_ " as he declared in his telegram which Mr and Mrs Blythe received the day after. He was now supposed to be sent to Iceland in a week's time.

And so the summer went smoothely and joyfully although not as joyfully as one could think it would go. Gilly and Jake were sent off to England at the same time as the Battle of Britain began and therefore when pilots were needed desperately. Jake met up with Merry and Marshall Douglas and the three of them were sent off to Iceland together at the beggining of July. Gil was left in England, fighting bravely as one of the 112 Canadian pilots for the freedom of their country.

That summer the 'sweethearting' really began in the Blythe, Ford and Meredith families. Walt was getting letters every week from a certain Lily Anderson who was in his year in Redmond and with whom he had occassional meetings with at school during breaks. Rose's endless long-distance calls to John were making Rilla so furious, that she started shouting at her at midnight (which was the sign that Rilla truly lost all of the possible calmness for her daughter). Cilia was reading out her every letter from Marshall to Julia and both of them were analizing his every word which _wasn't_ connected with guns or trenches.

And eventually Blythe found himself another admirer called Cornelia Douglas, Mary Vance's oldest daughter. She was always friends with Blythe becasue they were living almost next to each other. But this summer both of them caused rumours in both Glen St Mary and Four Winds about their possible romance. Julia didn't comment on any of the gossip-talk and ignored it all, thinking it can't be true as Blythe declared that he loves _her_ just a few months earlier, and he wasn't the kind of man who would change his mind very quickly, especially if it's about his feelings.

Julia was, even though she tried her best to convince herself and others otherwise, quite downhearted because of all the romance going on around her. She was so close to being engaged, the _first_ engaged in her generation. Now, that possibility was gone, and she wasn't sure whether it will be gone forever or not. Somehow the words from Troy's letters were helping her out, even though she knew that she will never hear them from him directly, she knew that Troy meant them, meant them for _her_. And her dreams and hopes grew bigger every passing day.

In August, Julia went to town and in the afternoon she came back wearing her new VAD uniform. Her look brought back the shadow of memories to her Mother's gleaming eyes. Julia looked positively wonderful in her blue cape, red cross in the front of it, and her small white cap on her head. She looked so proud while wearing her uniform, and so very optimistic. Julia's leaving date was 5th of September. Thankfully, she didn't need a training because she was already a qualified nurse and so she could happily spend the last two months at home with her family surrounding her.

She was better and stronger every single day but still seemed quite far away from her old herself, at least in her thoughts. But in the middle of August one thing happened that caused Julia's immediate improvement. She was in the living room, reading a book with Leslie, Rose and Luna sitting next to her, chattering about the latest fashion patterns they discovered in the magazines in town that day.

Suddenly Walt came into the room with a bunch of letters in his hand. He gave most of them to Mother and Father but there was one left for Julia. When she saw the familiar handwriting on the envelope, she put her hand on her mouth "It's… from Troy." she whispered breathlessly.

The girls next to her stopped talking and turned their heads to their cousin, the silence filling up the room "Go on, open it." Rose commanded and put her hands under her chin, almost biting her nails in nerves.

Julia started opening it with shaking hands and unfolded the letter slowly.

"Read it outloud, dear. Let us know what's inside." Luna said gently and looked at the letter Julia was holding as if it had the biggest secret inside.

Julia gulped, took a deep breath and started reading the words outloud: " _Dear Cathy…_ " she started and almost immediately stopped.

"Cathy?" Leslie asked with her eyebrows furrowed.

" _Who_ 's Cathy?" Rose added, biting her nails already.

"Carry on, Julia." Luna said quickly, although quietly.

Julia took a deep breath again and this time she started reading the letter faster:

 _"Dear Cathy,_

 _"The trenches are as I imagined them to be, not very comfortable, certainly not warm and very very dirty. That's the nicest description I can come up with._

 _"You are now the only reason for me to survive. I think of you every day and every night, sometimes I even feel guilty because I can't think of Julia all the time but now, after those precious months of our correspondance I know that_ you _are the one for me…_ " Julia stopped and looked at the space in front of her.

Rose covered her mouth with her hands, Luna looked at Julia with wide eyes and Leslie gulped.

Julia carried on even faster:

 _"I wrote Julia a letter that I have to take back my proposal and give the ring to you, my darling. I'm holding this letter in my hand and I really hope I won't put it in the envelope with_ your _name on!_ "

"He _surely_ did." Rose said through her clenched teeth.

" _Now…"_ Julia continued with trembling hands _"I suppose I have to go to sleep, we're going over the top in six hours._

 _"Goodnight, my lovely girl,_

 _"Always Yours,_

 _"Lieutenant Troy Rogers._ "

In that moment no one dared to say a word, not even Walt who was listening to the whole event from the corner of the room. Everyone's eyes were focused on Julia's face which turned bright red from anger. Her eyes were sparkling dangerously and all of them thought that she would start to scream. Instead she threw a letter on the table and ran upstairs to her room. Everyone was waiting patiently to hear the sound of sobbing in any second but nothing like that came. However after five minutes Julia was back downstairs, dressed in her horse-riding suit and her ancient red scarf wrapped around her neck.

"I'm going riding, I'll be back in two hours." she said plainly as if nothing happened and as quickly as she appeared downstairs; she was gone outside.

Five minutes later everyone heard the well-known sound of River's hooves. Faith and Jem came into the room hurriedly within a second after recognizing the sound "What happened?" Faith asked the girls sitting at the table.

But it was Walt who answered his Mother's question with a grin crossing his face "Our Bathsheba is back."


	8. The Change of Heart

**Chapter VIII**

Julia, in a complete spirit of Bathsheba, started galloping through the fields and woods, looking just like a heroine from books with her long red wavy hair drifting in the air and her crimson cheeks burning from emotions and… happiness. Yes, she finally felt free, _free_! She was surprised that she wasn't sad or even furious about how Troy behaved, instead she felt as if her life came back to her while giving her twice as much energy than ever before.

Lots and lots of thoughts were tumbling across her mind. She started thinking: how, in Heaven's name, could she ever be in love with Troy Rogers? Only then she realized that actually she _never_ _truly_ loved him, not in the way the woman should love a man who gave her an engagement ring… _The ring_! she gasped and quickly put her hand on her neck, finding the diamond circle on the thin string lying on her neck underneath the red scarf covering it.

She pulled River's rein making him to slow down. She took off the ring slowly and started turning it around in her hand, looking at it curiously, and she relized that she never even looked at it since Troy died. She actually _forgot_ about it!

"Well then…" she whispered to herself "Farewell Troy!" she said louder and threw the ring as far away as the strength in her arm would allow her. Julia sighed with relief and felt as light as never before, even with war going on in the world and Merry with Jake somewhere in Iceland and Gilly fighting in London… She felt _divinely_ peaceful.

She didn't feel any regret anymore, not when she realised that Troy was never the one for her. She couldn't possibly feel angry at him either, how could she be when Troy was dead? Julia thought about his Cathy, and felt sorry for her, which surprised her. She wondered whether Cathy even knew that Troy was killed, or whether she will ever know. But Julia didn't think about her for long, she couldn't. She was radiating with the feeling of freedom.

She looked up and started gazing at the view in front of her. She was on the field covered with glossy grass which looked like perfect 'green' waves when the wind touched it. The shore was just behind the fields and the seagulls' song, mixed with the sea-breeze, was filling up the air around her. She sighed happily and laid down on River, closing her eyes.

 _How is it to be in love, but_ truly _in love?_ she questioned herself _It seems as if all my hopes for knowing the man I will marry the minute I see him vanished completely. I wish I knew it, like Mum and Dad did, but then there's Grandmother and Grandad Blythe's story…_ she chuckled remembering the jolly evening when her Grandmother told her grandchildren the story how she and her husband met and later fell in love.

 _Even Troy knew…_ she went on with her thoughts _He knew just after a few letters with this Cathy-girl that she is the one for him, and… even_ Blythe _knows how it is to be in love…_ she stopped thinking and opened her eyes quickly. _Why_ was her heart beating so fast now? What was wrong with her? Why at the very thought of the name " _Blythe"_ would make her feel thousands of butterflies in her stomach? She never felt like this before… _How very strange!_ she thought. And _then…_ the sudden realisation hit her just as if she suddenly bumped into a stranger on the street by accident and realised that it was no stranger at all.

"Oh my _God_!" she murmured outloud, sitting straight back "That _can't_ be true!" Julia put her hands on her cheeks and started breathing heavily.

She _was_ in love with Blythe! She _always_ was! Always! She realized why she didn't feel this way before: there was always Troy or thoughts about Troy on her mind that would cover _this_ feeling which was in Julia's heart forever. Only then she felt that she _always_ knew how it is to be in love. Julia's memories started fighting with each other in her mind. She thought about all the merry times in their childhood, when Blythe used to watch Julia and all the other boys play in 'Indians' and 'Soldiers', and when she was getting bored taking her hand and running together to the seaside or inside the forest, singing together. When they were always holding hands when there was a "Scary-Story-Night" in Rainbow Valley when they were a bit older. How Blythe started writing poems and throw rocks on Julia's room's window to recite his new one for her. When Julia started thinking about taking a course in nursing and the two of them talking about it as long as she needed to. When she left a soft kiss on his cheek on her fifteenth birthday party, and when she went to Toronto College and Blythe to Redmond and how they were sending endless letters to each other. And eventually the moment on the last Christmas Day when Blythe kissed her on the lips, and she felt so _boiling_ and so _different_ in that moment.

 _And he loves_ me _!_ she almost shouted _Why, this must be the most beautiful dream I ever had in my whole life!_ she thought to herself with an enourmous smile covering her lips. She was so sure that Blythe still loved her because every time she would look in his grey-eyes since the Christmas Day, she would see the passion she once thought she had in her own eyes for Troy.

"Come on, River! Take me to the House of Dreams!" she shouted and River knew exactly what to do. River neighed happily and started galloping through the woods again, and it seemed to Julia as if he never galloped so fast before.

* * *

Rilla Ford was doing gardenening when she heard the sound of River's hooves coming nearer and nearer to the House of Dreams. She thought that it can't possibly be Julia, she didn't ride on River since… she didn't even remember since when. But then she saw Julia's graceful posture sitting on the black horse's back with her hair on her shoulders and fiery cheeks and she knew by then that Bathsheba is back.

"Aunt Rilla!" Julia shouted and jumped from River's back heading towards Rilla who stood up slowly and smiled at her niece.

"Jem's-girl!" she said in the way she always used to call Julia "What brings you here?" she asked kindly.

"Is Blythe at home? I would like to speak to him." Julia said looking behind Rilla at the window of Blythe's bedroom in the east side of the house.

"No, he just went out with Cornelia; to a _dance_." she answered emphasising the word 'dance' as if it was a sin.

"Oh…" Julia managed to say and her face changed slightly, although Rilla didn't notice it "Aunt Rilla, are all these gossips about Blythe and Cornelia true then?" she asked slowly, looking in her aunt's eyes fearfully.

"Yes, they are." Rilla answered half-sighing "Blythe doesn't speak of Cornelia very often but they _do_ spend a lot of time together lately, probably because Cornelia is _always_ bored." she chuckled quietly.

"But _are_ they in love, do you think?" Julia said in a voice which wasn't her own.

"Cornelia is head over heels about Blythe and he is… well… Very much interested in her. Yesterday, I witnessed them kissing when Cornelia was saying her goodbyes to him, you know." she said and winked to her niece knowingly.

Julia's eyes got even darker than they naturally were. She thought as if her heart stopped beating and as if the whole world around her was whirling around her. But Bathsheba's eyes still had hope in them and the sparkle of its own and so she said in a strong voice: "Good for them." she responded quickly "It seems that some people are more lucky than others when it comes to love."

Aunt Rilla didn't quite understand the meaning of what Julia just said to her but then she remembered what Leslie told her about when she got home one hour earlier. Rilla nodded in agreement "Oh, yes… I heard about the Troy's letter you got today." she said, shaking her head.

"Leslie told you?" Julia asked and even grinned, although quite bitterly.

"Yes, she did. But you're alright, aren't you?" she asked worryingly.

"Of _course_ I am." Julia said in a decided tone and allowed her aunt to kiss her cheeks.

"If you ever need to talk, you know I'm always here for you, Jem's-girl?" she said to her and raised her brow maningfully.

"Yes, dearest Auntie." Julia replied and smiled sadly. She then turned around and jumped on River's back again and put his rein in her hands "I'll see you at the dinner on Sunday." she said.

"I'll see you there." Rilla answered sweetly "Do you want me to tell Blythe that you came?" she asked suddenly.

"Um… No, you don't have to." Julia said plainly "Goodbye, Aunt Rilla!" she said and pulled River's rein.

"I'll see you soon!" Rilla shouted, looking at Julia's back which soon disappeared behind the trees.

* * *

"You're home at last, my darling!" Faith said when Julia came into the living room while taking off her red scarf from her neck. Julia looked at her Mother and just couldn't help but to go to her and put her arms around her shoulders.

"What is it, dearest?" Faith asked in a concerned tone while stroking her daughter's tangled hair.

"Oh, Mum!" she said breathlessly feeling how tears start to go up to her eyes "Why am I _so_ foolish? Why? Why didn't I allow myself to feel _it_ earlier? _Why_?" she said and sat down on the sofa in the living room.

Faith exchanged looks with her husband and both of them sat down with their daughter on the sofa "Tell us, dear one, what happend?" Faith asked once again. Julia took a deep breath and told her parents and Walt, who was sitting on his chair near the fireplace listening as well about what happened when Julia went riding. She was so relieved that she had a family like this, that she could always tell them about everything whenever she needed to tell it to someone. The whole story went out of her mouth like the river of words which were jumping in her head for the whole time. Her parents and her brother listened carefully to her every word while nodding their heads and feeling truly sorry for their Julia. _Thank Goodness Cee is asleep. My story would sadden her sensitive soul._ Julia thought to herself remembering that Cee was always the first person in their house whenever someone needed to talk.

Julia eventually finished talking and looked at her listeners with trembling hands.

"Well…" Jem began "In my opinion, if you were meant for each other, you will find a way to get back together, no matter what will happen." he smiled at his daughter and squeezed her hand assuringly.

"But _if_ not? What if I will always think that we are made for each other and Blythe will go off and marry Cornelia?" Julia continued with tears shining in her eyes.

"I don't think it works like that, darling." Faith said warmly "And your Father is right, if you are to be together, you will be. But sweet Julia," she said warmly and put the strand of her hair behind her daughter's ear " _If_ you weren't, you will know it in time as well."

"For love is not as simple as one can think it is." Walt added and Julia grinned at his words.

"You're all right." she said eventually and stood up "I suppose I just have to get stronger, and _certainly_ more independent!" she chuckled while drying off her tears and the others laughed as well.

"No, not _more_ independent!" Faith grinned at Julia.

"Firstly," Jem added "Because you are going overseas in three weeks' time, and you'll be a nurse, you should put a new goal of helping others before the goal of looking for love from Blythe or anyone else for that matter. You're still very young for love, anyway." he said wisely.

"I suppose you're all right, after all." Julia winked at her Father who winked back "And I'll show you all how much pride I can bring to our family!" and with that she ran upstairs to her room.

* * *

The last two weeks of August went very fast, being hardly noticable by anyone. It was a different summer to any other summer any of the Blythes, Fords or Merediths experienced in their lives. Although they didn't quite know why, they could all feel that everything will change after it's gone into autumn. Julia set up her mind on not noticing how often Blythe would go out to town with Cornelia nor she would even allow herself to think about Blythe as a man she loves in _that_ way. However, she failed in both of her targets. She couldn't forgive herself that she got engaged so easily to a man like Troy Rogers, whereas Blythe was standing just next to her, _all the time_ , since the day she was born!

Rose had long conversations with Julia about it and succeeded in making Julia thinking more about nursing than about Blythe. Julia was excited, she really was and she just couldn't wait to go and start helping others after the whole year of not doing anything in particular. Even though there was always Blythe in the corner of her thoughts, she returned to her spirit of Bathsheba. She started talking and laughing in a way she used to and she was riding on River twice a day, just like she always did.

A day before the leaving of Rose, Walt and Blythe who were going back to Redmond, there was a 'farewell' family dinner held in Ingleside. Grandmother and Grandfather Blythe told their grandchildren, who listenined very carefully and laughed every five sentences, their favourite stories of their childhood, adolescent time and early adulthood. It was a really nice evening which everyone needed, especially with the thought that Julia was supposed to go overseas very soon too.

When there was finally time to go home, Julia decided that she would _walk_ home because "it is such a lovely evening, it would be a sin not to walk today" she said. Walt said he will join her and so did Blythe and the "Three Muskeeters", as Grandad Blythe called them when he saw them walking down the road together, started walking hand-in-hand towards the House on the Hill.

"I can't believe that we won't be in Rainbow Valley tomorrow." Walt sighed.

"With every end of summer, and leaving again, I feel as if I will never return here again." Blythe added.

"Cheer up, you two!" Julia exclaimed and put her arms around their shoulders "I would be _so_ happy if I was going to the university!"

"But you _can_ go, sis." Walt smirked.

"Oh, you know it's not _exactly_ what I meant!" Julia chuckled "Besides, it's your last year anyway."

"Thank Lord for that!" Walt said and the three of them laughed.

"Somehow I will miss being a Redmond student." Blythe admitted "It's so nice to learn new things everyday."

"It is." Julia agreed "And that's another reason why I can't wait for the 5th of September to come!" she said and sighed happily.

Walt and Blythe exchanged hidden smiles "Are you scared?" Blythe asked her suddenly.

" _No_. At least not now, but probably I will be on the way there." she answered and grinned at the two of them knowingly.

"You will be such a good nurse." Walt smilled at his sister with pride.

"I'll try my best. From the 5th of September onwards, both of you will have to pray for me every night so that I won't do a silly mistake, alright?" she looked seriously at both of her companions.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Blythe saluted and the three of them laughed joyfully "Isn't laughter the most wonderful sound in the universe?" he questioned dreamily.

"No, the most wonderful sound for me is the sound of a violin." Walt responded and sighed "That's why I really miss every family event without Jake, he could play his violin so beautifully."

"Oh, yes…" Julia sighed absent-mindedly "But let's not think about sad things."

"Let's not." Blythe agreed "Do you know that I was thinking yesterday about how would we sound like if we were music?" Blythe started merrily, in his excited tone.

"Really?" Julia joined in in his jolly mood "What do you think _I_ would sound like if I were music?" she raised her eyebrows.

"If you were the music…" he stepped forward to face Julia "You would sound like this…" he went silent and waved his hands around him. Both Julia and Walt looked around with quite confused faces.

"You would sound like the _wind_." Blythe whispered and grinned at her meaningfully.

Julia grinned "How come I sound like a wind to you?" she asked breathlessly, completely taken by the way Blythe was talking in.

"You would sound just like a wind hitting trees, the ocean's waves and the air itself." Blythe whispered as if he was saying a magic spell "Wind is _just_ like you; so unpredictable; very strong and yet so… different from all the other sounds."

Julia thought as if both of them exchanged a very important message with each which no one else was allowed to understand except for them. Walt noticed the look in his sisters' eyes and grinned to himself looking at both Blythe and Julia. He whooped, breaking the silence between them "There we are!" he pointed at the House on the Hill.

Blythe cleared his throat and took Julia's hand, on which he left a tender and gentle kiss "I will see you tomorrow at the train station." he said.

"Yes, _yes_ , you will." she answered seriously, looking in his eyes constantly.

"So long Walt!" Blythe winked at Julia's brother who waved at him as he started walking towards the road leading to Four Winds.

And only then Julia realized that tomorrow she will see Blythe for the last time before she will leave for England. _And God knows when we shall see each other again_ she said to herself still feeling Blythe's lips on her right hand.


	9. Train Station

**Chapter IX**

On the next day, Walt, Rose and Blythe said their 'goodbyes' and 'see you laters' to their family, and left Glen St Mary, heading towards the Redmond College for their final year. On the same day, but on a different train, shy and nervous Owen started his journey to Queen's. It was a quick farewell yet quite different to all the other farewells the Blythe, Meredith and Ford family has ever had because all of them were terribly afraid that someone will give either Walt or Blythe 'the white feather' at school and that they might enlist, not even telling anyone about it. And that would be the worst thing they could possibly do to break their family's hearts.

But Julia knew they would never do such a thing, not Walt and _definitely_ not Blythe, besides both of them vowed to her the day before that they won't enlist or, at least, not without first informing her about the idea. It was still weird for Julia, to think that her brother Merry and cousins Gilly and Jake were already overseas, fighting for their country ever so bravely, and that she would be very close to all of them soon.

She was incredibly excited about going to England and nursing, but she knew that she would be homesick and terribly scared at times. When Julia said her farewells to Walt and Blythe, she felt like a big stone was put on her heart, not knowing when she will see both of them again, her "two bosom friends" whom she loved very dearly and who always gave her courage to be strong and independent. It was always the two of them, the "quieter ones" of the family who always understood her better than anyone else. How will she survive without them by her side? she thought, but she knew that she will because she will survive for _them_.

Through the rest of the day, Julia seemed as if she was 'there' and yet wasn't at all. As Blythe would describe her: " _she was drifting in the clouds, listening to how the angels sing_ ". She didn't say much when she played with Cee and Nancy or when she sat down in the Ingleside's living room between Leslie, Luna and Cilia. She was thinking about her uniform which was hanging on the door of her wardrobe in the House on the Hill. She thought that she was ready, she told everyone that she _was_ , yet it seemed as if she was just _partialy_ ready for the journey across the Atlantic Ocean because she realized that she won't have anyone from her family sitting next to her on the train or that she won't have her own cosy room or that… she won't know _when_ she will see her family again.

"Julia, sweetheart, tell me: what's on your mind?" Una asked kindly. It was just a coincindence that Julia and Una stayed together in the kitchen and were both doing the washing up after the dinner when the others stayed on the Ingleside's verandah, talking over the newest letters from Merry, Jake and Gilly.

Julia looked shyly at her Aunt under her long eyelashes "Auntie, I'm _so_ afraid…" she breathed out eventually.

Una grinned to her gently "I _know_ , dear Sheba." she said "But don't worry so much, you always do most extraordinary things without any mistakes at all."

"It's not exactly what I'm mostly scared of…" she answered in a whisper, looking at the bowl which she was holding in her hand.

Una put down her towel and made Julia to sit down on a chair next to the kitchen table, facing her Aunt's worried face "What _is_ it then? You know you can tell me anything, sweetie." she said.

"I'm afraid…" Julia started and clasped her hands together "-I'm afraid of changing and of all the things I will see and that I don't know when I shall see each of you again." she said feeling how her pale hands started shaking.

Una put her own small hand on Julia's hand and squeezed it tightly. Una always thought that Julia, although having a spirit of her mother, was as sensitive as she herself was. That's why Una was always like a second-mother to Julia.

"I talked about it with Mother and I felt better for a moment." Julia continued "But I fear that I _won't_ get less stressed no matter what someone will tell me."

"Dearest," Una whispered and looked in her niece's eyes caringly "Of course you _will_ change. Every one of us will change because of this war. We will all be affected by it no matter how hard we will try to escape it, but I will tell you from my experience that it's usually a good change." she said.

"I really hope so." Julia replied and sighed.

"You will see that after some time you will feel greatful for going overseas and seeing the horror of this war. Because what you will do, will help other people and that is the most precious gift you can ever give to another human being." Una smiled to her niece.

Julia grinned back and stood up from her chair. She went over to the sink and took another bowl in her hands "If so, then let us help others by washing the dishes." she chuckled, thinking that everything will be alright after all.

* * *

It was a day before Julia's leaving for England when Julia finally thought of packing her suitcase. She wasn't allowed to take lots of clothes but even though she invited Cilia, Luna and Leslie to help her pick her four outfits for the "glourious London adventure", as the three girls called it. When Julia's suitcase was finally closed and her uniform ready to put on, along with her thin coat and comfortable shoes standing by her bed, Julia sinked down between her girls "Tell me, my darlings, what are your plans for the future." she said suddenly.

"You know what our plans are." Leslie said joyfully, with a raised brow.

"Oh, I'm not _too_ sure about that." Julia answered and smiled in a funny way.

"Well, I'm planning on staying at home for a while and helping Mum and Dad to cope with Gilly at the front." Leslie started quickly "Then, maybe… _Maybe_ one day I will join you in England, Jules." she grinned lightly.

"Oh, _do_! Yes, that would be splendid!" Julia exclaimed and shaked her friend's hand.

"And I," said Cilia "-I will marry Marshall when he comes back." her eyes started to shine for one second and darkened after two " _If_ he comes back."

"Why, Cilia, stop being so pesimistic!" Julia said and put her arm around Cilia's shoulders "I won't promise you that he will come back, but have hope, for him." she squeezed her friend's arm assuringly.

"I _have_ hope, but it's so hard not to think that I could not see him again." she whispered with tears in her eyes.

"He'll be fine, you'll see." Luna said gently and kissed her older sister's cheek.

"What about you, Luna-Moona," Julia poked her friend playfully in the arm "-what are _your_ plans for the future?"

"I'm not too sure yet, to be honest." she said shyly "I only know that I don't want to move anywhere far from home."

"Yes, Glen is the sweetest place in the whole world, no matter what other people say." Leslie said decidedly.

"Says the person who told me not so long ago that she wants to move to the States!" Julia chuckled.

"Oh, _Bathsheba_!" Leslie laughed "The United States of America is not so far away from the Island, you know."

"And you, Sheba?" Luna asked sweetly "What do _you_ want to do when this war will end?"

"I know that I want to help people, wherever I will go." Julia replied and smilied, thinking about her upcoming overseas adventure "Other than that I just intend to be forever-happy."

"With _Blythe_?" joked Leslie who didn't know that Julia didn't consider laughing at such question.

"I won't talk about him in _that_ way." she answered plainly, and looked at the ground, putting a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Let her be, Leslie." Cilia said to her cousin gently.

Leslie rolled her eyes "This Cornelia Douglas is getting on my nerves more and more with every passing day." she started, waving her hands "I really don't know what Blythe sees in her."

"What's wrong with Cornelia?" Julia questioned half-interested and half-grinning.

"She is just…" Leslie thought for a moment "-so _perfect_ in every way!" and the three girls laughed.

"There's nothing wrong with having a perfect personality, is there, Leslie?" Cilia said in an annoyed tone.

"Perfect personality is no personality at all." Julia said suddenly and wished she bit her tongue in time when she saw a fammiliar, knowing grin on Leslie's lips.

"That's quite right, Sheba." she said "Therefore I can't stand talking with her and hearing " _Miss Ford, please"_ and " _Miss Ford, sorry"_ _all_ the time!" All of the girls in the room started giggling and couldn't stop for another ten minutes. Their laughter filled up all of the rooms in the House on the Hill, like the music from the radio.

Faith and Jem Blythe who were sitting downstairs with Anne and Gilbert Blythe exchanged their looks with bitter-sweet smiles on their lips "I will miss Julia's laughter." Faith said and felt her husband's hand touching her own.

"So will we, dearest." Anne said and sighed "But in a way, I'm glad that she's going. It really _is_ her duty; to help those in need."

"Yes, you're right, Mother." Jem added "And I'm really happy that she's going too, although, it seems quite selfish of me, I sometimes wish I said 'no' when she asked me for my permission for her to sign up."

"Everything happens for a reason, son." said Gilbert and patted his oldest son's arm.

"I wish our dear, old Susan was here and that she could do her famous monkey-faces for Julia for her long journey." Anne said.

"I'm sure she will enjoy your chocolate cake just as much as she would enjoy Susan's monkey-faces." Faith grinned to her mother-in-law.

Anne smiled "Hopefully she will like them. Julia was always known for saying _precisely_ whether she likes something or dislikes it."

"Just like her Grandma." Gilbert winked at his wife and Anne smiled in a way she always used to smile ever since her very own beautiful wedding in the Green Gables' garden nearly fifty years earlier.

Suddenly Julia ran into the living room and said hurriedly: "Mother, would you mind if I would go riding today after all? I know that I promised that I will spend this day _entirely_ with my family but River _is_ my family too. Please, Mother-dear?" Julia leaned on her Mother's arm and looked deeply into her eyes.

Faith sighed "Alright, Bathsheba." she said and Julia almost jumped from where she was standing. She knew that she had to say her goodbyes to the golden fields which she loved so much and the sandy beach which always seemed so smooth for her feet and the azure sea which was alwyas like a big mystery for her. Besides, she had to get away from all the people who although seemed fine with her leaving, Julia knew too well, not to notice a growing shadow on their faces.

And so, just after leaving of Cilia, Leslie and Luna, Julia put on her riding suit once again and wrapped her red scarf around her thin neck and jumped on River, feeling the eyes of her parents and Cee on her back when she started galloping towards the inevitable sunset.

* * *

The train station on the morning of 5th of September 1940, was very calm and foggy. The birds were singing from the trees surrounding it, filling up the air around the Blythes, Fords and Merediths. Julia was dressed in her unifrom and felt positively proud of herself and even excited. Although her heart was beating fast from nerves and doubts, her face was raditating with an upcoming adventure which would change her life, although she didn't know it then.

Everyone was smiling, apart from little Cee and Faith who both couldn't keep up the smiling and felt like they were losing a sister and a daughter.

"Cheer up, little Cee." Julia kissed her sister's crimson cheeks "I'll be just fine and I'll be sending you letters every Monday like I promised." she smiled at her.

"And… I'll… send… you my… drawings." Cee said between sobs and threw herself in Julia's arms.

Julia's Grandparents gave her thousands of kisses and hugs along with much more cakes and cookies into her bag. Her aunts and uncles wished her well and gave her their advices about how to keep strong and think positively when the world around you is falling apart. Leslie gave Julia a new shining pen so that she will have no excuse not to write to her. Cilia gave her a brand new copy of "The Wuthering Heights" so that she can read it all over again in her free time. And Luna made Julia a new blanket in orange and blue stripes, so that she will be sure that Julia will be warm at night.

Julia's heart was melting with every word, look or grin each of her family gave her. She felt how tears started coming up to her hazel-eyes, but she held them back, and kept on grinning and saying that she is and will be fine.

"All aboard!" shouted the conductor.

Julia hurried up to jump on her Father's neck and kissed his face three times "I love you, Daddy. Please take care of Mum and Cee." she whispered to his ear.

"I will, my darling girl." he whispered back with a small grin on his face "And I love you too, whatever you do and wherever you are." She smiled at him through her watery eyes and turned her head to her Mother who looked at her as if she was a five-year-old little girl all over again. Faith kissed Julia's forehead, nose and lips and put her Julia's head on her chest to stop herself from crying "Be good my girl, and write to us as often as you can. England is so far away." she whispered into Julia's red locks.

"I will, Mummy." Julia whispered back and heard the conductor's voice again.

"I love you so much that words can't describe it." Faith said and a warm and loving smile appeared on her wet face.

"And I love _you_ , and always will." Julia said and left the final kiss on Faith's cheek.

Julia took her two suitcases in her hands and jumped on the train quickly, feeling as if she was jumping in the completely new world which was waiting for her to be discovered.


	10. England

**Chapter X**

" _Journeys on the train are so incredibly fascinating; although you move so fast, you see so much more details of the world from the other side of the window than you would normally see if you were staring at it from just few inches away._ " Blythe once told Julia when he came back from his first year in Redmond. And Julia couldn't think of anything else but what he told her, when she sat down in her cabin on the train.

She couldn't sit still, she just couldn't wait for her first day as a VAD. Her mind was overfilled with the view from the train window _and_ going on the ship _and_ seeing London… But most of all she couldn't wait to experience helping others. She knew that she will be horrified by the sights she will see, her Mother told her all about the time when she was a VAD in the First War, but Julia knew that it was war after all and these men needed help. _Her_ help.

She also hoped that maybe she will be able to meet up with Gilly who was fighting bravely in London and thereabouts. His General send a private letter to Mr and Mrs Ford a week earlier telling them that Gil truly is one of the bravest and organised men in his division. And Merry with Jake were somewhere in Iceland, in the place Julia could never remember the name of. She was so glad that at least they had each other, and Marshall Douglas as well of course.

" _Now, if anything, even the slightest injury will happen to them, I will be there to help them._ " Julia thought to herself and grinned with satisfaction. Of course she was still afraid of many things, it would be quite impossible _not_ to be afraid when you're going straight into the centre of the war, but Julia managed not to think about the things that scared her most of the time.

" _I wonder if my roommates will become my kindred spirits?_ " Julia thought " _Or if our Matron will be nice? Or if the wounded soldiers will be very frightened? Or if there will be bombing day after day?_ " she shook her head reprimanding herself " _Stop thinking about such things, Julia Una Blythe!_ "

And indeed she stopped, not because she told herself to do so but because, while looking out of her window, she saw a…

" _-Ship!_ " she gasped and jumped from her seat, walking towards the door of her cabin.

* * *

Merry, Troy, Jake and Gilly. They all saw the ocean before and each of them described it to Julia but she found it very much different from everything they all told her. She thought it was so calm and _yet_ so strong and… _musical_. She always loved the sound of waves but she never heard it the way she did on her journey across the Atlantic.

Julia was very glad that her Mother wasn't around her for she would be terrified by the amount of time her daughter spent outside, looking at the ocean before her. During this four-days at sea, Julia found it very comforting to seat outside and close her eyes and just think and _dream_. Dream about everything and anything she wanted to dream about. Each evening she would write in her newly started war-diary every new thing she thought about and wanted to do, somewhere in the future. " _I want to travel. I want to go to every country in the world. I want to learn new languages. I want to learn how to be patient. And how to cook, properly._ ".

However she didn't allow herself to dream about love and… well… _Blythe_. It hurt her too much to even think about him in that way again because every single time Blythe came up on her mind, she would think about the day during summer when she saw him _kissing_ Cornelia goodbye. It was like a knife put in the softest part of her heart, but she hid it, very gracefully, from everyone.

Julia didn't even notice when those four days went and so when she saw the famous white cliffs at Dover, she couldn't help but _running_ outside, like a little girl, and letting her eyes _eat_ the view in front of her. "Here I am England! I _am_ ready for you! Are you ready for _me_?" she whispered to the cliffs. And for a moment she thought that the breeze that just hit her face brought a quiet answer: " _Yes._ ".

* * *

 _Dear Mother, Father and Cee,_

 _I am officially in London! I think that I will never quite believe that I'm really here, it is a completely different world. It's so crowded and full of places I only heard about from newspapers, magazines and Troy's stories. It's such a lovely city, full of history which I intend to discover soon!_

 _You probably heard about the Blitz? And that the Germans are throwing bombs all over London every single day? Yes, it is all true unfortunately, but don't you worry about me, our Matron showed us the shelter and how to use it and so I'm fully prepared for all the bombs Germans are in the possesion of, and I promise you, I'm safe. Thank Goodness, since the three hours ago when I arrived in London, no bombing occured!_

 _It's almost midnight but I don't care about the time in the slightest bit, because I'm not tired at all! Besides, Olive, my room-mate has her own torch and we both write to our families now with a turned on torch standing in the middle of my night table._ _Olive Jones is my bosom friend already. She is my age and she is from Surrey, where her whole family is from. Olive has a round but thin face with a funny pointy chin, skinny nose and lips, and very dark eyes which I think are almost entirely black. She has dark brown curly hair, just like Aunt Nan's._ _Olive is as crazy as I am and she adores my nickname greatly, but she preferes to call my "_ Bath" _. It really seems as if we knew each other forever._

 _My other room-mate, Claire Babineux (her father was born in Paris) is… well, as Rose would probably describe her, "_ a perfect porcelain doll _", in every meaning of this phrase._ _She is nice, or rather,_ tries _to be nice, but constantly fails in it. Her make-up accessories and jewellery take up the whole table we have to share between the three of us!_ _But she_ is _beautiful and that leads me to a question: why is it always that_ _the most annoying people are also the most beautiful?_

 _At least I have_ my _Olive, who hates make-up just as much as I do! However she uses a lipstick "_ so that people can see that I _do_ have lips! _" she said to me today._

 _Mum probably asks if our room is clean and big; the answer is: yes, it is Mother-dear. Not necessarily as big as I would imagine it to be for three people to live in but it's big enough for us._ _Our Matron, Mrs Ashby, is a fat and old grumpy woman. I know that it's quite harsh of me to say so but oh, if you could_ see _her face this evening when all the other girls and I came, you would know why I described her so._

 _Speaking of a devil, Mrs Ashby just came into the room and discovered we're still writing letters although the others are fast asleep…_ _I have to go to bed now. My day-duty starts at six in the morning and ends at six in the evening so I suppose that even if I'm not sleepy at all, I have to get some rest._

 _Cross your fingers for me for tomorrow, will you? (I know that you won't get my letter before tomorrow but please keep your fingers crossed for me anyway)_

 _I'll write tomorrow!_

 _And the day after tomorrow!_

 _Your loving daughter and sister,_

 _Julia Una Blythe_

* * *

"Julia, wake up! _Wake_ up!" Claire shaked her room-mate in despair and looked at the clock hurriedly.

"What time is it?" Julia asked sleepily while rubbing her eyes and slowly sitting up on the corner of her bed.

"We have half an hour to get ready, girls!" Olive shouted from their bathroom.

Julia gasped and stood up quickly, making her way towards her uniform which was hanging on the door handle. Olive stormed out of the bathroom while putting on her shoes. She smiled to Julia and kissed her on the cheek quickly while she was getting out of her night-gown.

"Morning, morning!" Olive greeted her and put the small two sandwiches on Julia's night table.

"Oh, thank _you_ so much, dear, for bringing me breakfast!" Julia grinned at Olive knowingly.

"That was _me_ who brought you breakfast but I'll say: you're _always_ welcome." Claire replied coldly while putting on her mascara in front of the mirror.

Julia and Olive exchanged their looks "Don't say things you don't mean, _Claire_." Julia responded and came into the bathroom, leaving Claire with a confused expression on her face.

* * *

"Are you ready, _nurses_?" Mrs Ashby asked all twenty-five new girls standing in front of her in line, some of them scared to bones, others positively excited.

Julia was somewhere in the middle and she clearly didn't hide it. She was very excited and she felt ready for everything at last. However she still felt this weird, unpleasant feeling in her stomach whenever she thought about all the soldiers she will have to nurse, it was not the fear exactly, it was just the uncertainty of what the new day may bring to her. Olive, who was holding Julia's hand tightly, belonged to the 'positively excited' girls, whereas Claire was probably the only one who didn't really belong to any of the groups.

The Matron turned around, opened the main entrance door and said in a matter-of-fact tone: "Off you go, then.". All of them marched inside, in their cleaned, white uniforms into a complete chaos, moaning, agony, dirt and _blood_.

Somehow, while Julia was doing her job with putting on bandages, holding soldiers' hands, giving them medicines, cleaning them and constantly running up and down for the whole twelve hours (except for the twenty minutes long lunch when no one talked to each other but was eating as quickly as they could), she didn't feel scared but she was really into in what she was doing. It was when she finally got out of her uniform and sat down on her bed with Olive sitting beside her, when she realised what she saw that day.

Men without legs, arms or even faces in total agony, screaming in pain for every help they could get. It was her first day as a VAD and she already saw death, and what was the reason for death for these poor soldiers. She was too busy to think about them during the day, to think that any of these boys mean so much to someone else just as much as Merry, Jake or Gilly meant to her. Her head was pulsing and in that moment she really wanted to just pack up her suitcases and go back to P.E Island.

But she wouldn't do it even if she could. She knew what her duty was and that it's just the beginning of it and that it would be just an act of cowardice, to run away at the very beginning. And Julia certainly wasn't a coward.

"Are you alright, Bath?" Olive asked her tenderly, when she sat down by her side on Julia's bed.

"Oh my _God_ …" Julia murmured and felt how tears started to form in her eyes "Olive…" she breathed out eventually and she quickly found herself in her friend's arms.

"I know, I know." she said to her calmly, stroking Julia's red curls.

"I _can't_ believe what I saw today." Julia said once again, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes, but failing in doing so.

"It's _war_ , Julia, what did you expect?" Claire said mockingly when she sat down on her bed, in front of both Julia and Olive, with tea in her hands.

Julia turned her head towards Claire with angry eyes "Why are you so emotionless?" she asked her and dryed off the tears from her wet cheeks.

"I'd rather be emotionless than as frustrated as you are right now." Claire answered her sternly, putting a strand of her hair behind her ear.

" _Frustrated_!" Julia exclaimed and stood up from her seat "How can I _not_ be frustrated, tell me, Claire? Did you have your eyes open today? Did you see these men…" she said passionetely, with her hands shaking.

"I did and _what_?" Claire interrupted her and stood up as well, facing Julia with red face "Why should _I_ cry for them? Do you think they want _us_ to feel sorry for them?" she put her hands on her hips and looked at Julia angrily.

"Stop, Claire!" Olive outbursted "Just _stop_!" she looked at her room-mate with disappointment in her eyes and took Julia's hand in hers. Claire obeyed and made her way towards the bathroom with a towel in her hand, leaving the two of her room-mates hugging each other tightly, hoping that the horrors of the war will end just as soon as they came into their lives.

* * *

The clock in Julia's room stroked midnight when the sound of the war alarm siren, which was horrifying for everyone, filled up the air of London. Julia, Olive and Claire opened their eyes immediately and jumped out of their beds, facing each other with fear in each of their eyes.

Julia's heart was beating fast, she was never so scared before. She knew that the Blitz didn't finish yet, but she didn't realise the real danger connected with it until this very second. She thought about her family, her home, her childhood, her whole life; everything appeared in front of her eyes and she thought for a moment that it was all her imagination, there was no bombing, no war, no pain. But then she blinked and looked out of the window from the corner of her eye. The sky was dark, pitch-black almost, but its peacefulness was interrupted by the lights somewhere not exactly far away. She shuddered again.

"This is it, then?" Julia said in a shaking voice. Claire nodded slowly and that was when they heard the sound of all the other girls running through the corridor outside their door.

"Hurry up, then, you two!" Olive said and took Claire's and Julia's hands in hers, opening the door quickly. When they almost reached their shelter, they heard the explosion not very far away from them. The girls screamed as one voice and started pushing one another to the shelter's door. The room was very overcrowded, filled up with nurses at their night-duty, soldiers who could walk (because those who couldn't were left in their beds) and the girls in their night-gowns.

When the door in front of them was closed, Julia sighed with relief and smiled gently to Olive who as an answer squeezed her arm "Do you have any music, perhaps?" Olive asked outloud and some of the people chuckled.

"We didn't really think of bringing music, Nurse Jones!" one of the soldiers said cheerfully.

"Oh, I completely forgot about my portable radio!" Julia gasped in despair "Gosh, I left _everything_ in our room!" she put her both hands on her mouth.

"Don't worry, they won't throw a bomb on _our_ hospital." Olive said with a total certainty in her voice.

Suddenly Claire kissed Julia's cheek and took her hands on hers "I'm sorry, Julia, for everything I said to you today, I didn't _really_ mean it, I'm just really bad in talking about my feelings. Will you forgive me?" she asked her with a pale face.

Julia smiled at her and squeezed her hands gently "There's nothing to forgive, Claire, and remember that you can always tell me anything you want and I'll keep it a secret." she whispered and winked at her knowingly.

"Thank you." Claire managed to say and grinned, even though she felt how the ground above her started shaking.

And so Julia spent the next two hours in the shelter, having Olive under her right arm and Claire under her left arm. And for the first time during the day she felt that, after all, everything will turn out just fine "- _a_ _nd that kindred spirits really aren't so hard to find!_ " she thought with a grin on her lips.


	11. Christmas At The Hospital

**Chapter XI**

The next day was certainly much better not only for Julia, but for every other new nurse as well. Julia finally got over her fears and doubts and was one of the most optimistic nurses in her day-duty. She eventually started feeling good in what she was doing and everything she did, she did with great efficency and it seemed to her as if she was a nurse all her life. With every day, Julia felt that she was born to help other people, and those soldiers were simply putting their shaking hands in front of her. She started to feel that she achieved one of her main aims in her life, that something from life was completed. She got used to all the sights of dying men, agony, pain and blood, she wasn't afraid of that anymore.

At the end of each day Julia, Olive and Claire used to sit down on the floor in their room and each of them were telling each other stories about their families, interests and hobbies. Olive didn't have a big family, it was just her, her older brother Michael who was serving as a navy officer, and their strict parents.

"They didn't allow me to go and sign up." Olive said one afternoon after the supper when the three of them sat down together on the floor while eating Faith's cookies which she sent to Julia a day before.

"So how did they react to you signing up anyway?" Julia asked while finishing eating the last cookie.

"Mother shut herself in her bedroom and didn't speak to me until the day of my leaving whereas Father quarreled with me for the whole afternoon. But I think, that after all, they both knew I would join up anyway." Olive shrugged as if it was really nothing that her parents didn't agree on her going into nursing.

"I would _never_ disobey my parents!" Claire exclaimed.

" _My_ parents are very understanding and so I don't even have to think about disobeying them." Julia added with a smile, looking at the black-and-white picture of Faith and Jem Blythe standing on her night-table.

"I love your family _so_ much!" Olive giggled and looked at all the frames standing on Julia's night-table with shining eyes "It's so big and everyone seems so much fun!"

Julia laughed at her friend's reaction but agreed with her by nodding "Yes, you're quite right, all of my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents are _really_ fun." she said and then chuckled again "And so very imaginative!"

"And your brothers are _so_ handsome…" Claire sighed while looking at the picture of Walt and Merry.

Olive and Julia chuckled and looked at each other knowingly "Yes, they _are_." Julia said eventually, still giggling.

"Do they have any girlfriends?" Claire asked in a hoping tone, raising her brow.

Julia opened her mouth and hit her friend playfully in the arm " _Claire_!" she exclaimed "If you must know, yes, Walt has a sweetheart in Redmond but Merry... I think that he doesn't have any girl of his own." Julia said with furrowed eyebrows.

" _Interesting_." Claire whispered and then chuckled with her two room-mates.

"And you Claire?" Olive questioned "Is your family big? You never really talk about them."

Claire grinned sadly and sighed "No, it's just me and my Grandmama Emily and our little house in Birmingham. My parents died in a car accident when I was very small and I don't remember them at all." she told them, absent-mindedly.

Julia sighed and suddenly felt sorry for Claire. It was unimaginable to think that someone can have no family except for a Grandmother, without parents, siblings or even uncles or aunts. She put her hand gently on Claire's shoulder.

"But let's not talk about sad things." Claire waved her hand and grinned "Tell me Julia, do _you_ have any "sweetheart", as you call it?" she asked with a meaningful smile crossing her red lips and a raised eyebrow.

Julia's face darkened and her cheeks turned rosy red "I… um…" she murmured "It's complicated."

"Bath, don't be embarrassed in front of us!" Olive said and patted Julia's shoulder "You can tell us everything."

"Alright then…" Julia sighed and told them her story. How Troy entered her life, how she Blythe kissed, how she got a telegram saying that Troy is dead, how she got a letter from Troy which made her to realise that Troy never loved her and eventually how she came to a realisation that Blythe was the one and only man for her. Olive and Claire listened as carefully as if they were hearing a story from a book. Their eyes were wide open when they heard about Troy's letter and their hearts melted when they heard the sound of Julia's voice breaking when she told them about her feelings for Blythe.

"I've been _such_ a fool!" she concluded and put her hands on her cheeks helplessly.

"You _have_." Olive agreed and shook her head "But don't you worry, dear Bathsheba." she put her friend in her arms "Everything will turn out the way it should, you'll see." she smiled to Julia who couldn't do anything else but to smile back.

"Oh, Heaven's!" Claire gasped and stood up as if something pinched her "We're late for our supper _already_!" she said.

Julia and Olive stood up immediately and followed Claire downstairs for they felt that whether Blythe will love Julia back or not, they had to fill up their empty stomachs nonetheless.

* * *

 _Dear Sis,_

 _I'm so glad that you arrived in London safetly and that this horrible Blitz didn't affect you as much as it could have._ _The description of Olive and Claire makes me think you will have a fun time with them, especially in a city like the dear, old London._

 _Mother sent me a picture of you in the uniform; Gosh, you look so fromal it's hard to imagine that you're still our Bathsheba! But in a way, I think that the nurse-uniform really suits you and_ _I'm so very proud of you, Sheb, I really am._

 _You ask "how is our trench-life"? Well, very uncomfortable I must say and definitely not as adventurous as I thought it would be when I joined up. I don't think you would like it, I don't think anyone would have liked it, it's so muddy and rats are everywhere… But I'm very glad that Jake and Marshall are here with me, however annoying they might be sometimes, I'm so happy that they are in the same place as me._

 _I managed to make some new friends as well but I try not to (which is very hard, as everyone is very nice around here) because you never know if they will survive till the next morning._ _Enough of the sad things, did you know that they want me to get promoted to become a Captain? I don't know if I'm ready yet for such a big step-up so I'm asking you: what do_ you _think? Do you think I should accept this offer?_

 _Anyway, tell me more about how you're feeling about… well, what you see in the hospital? Are you really fine, as you said in your last letter?_

 _I have to go now, darling._ _Jake and Marshall are sending you their love._

 _And so will I, you dear sister o'mine,_

 _Your brother and a friend,_

 _Lieutenant Meredith Blythe_

* * *

 _Dear Bathsheba,_

 _I'm more than happy to hear that you're "_ a happy nurse in the heart of London _"! I was worried for you, I was worried that in the end you will be too scared and will want to come back home; but it only proves how foolish I was to think so. But nevertheless, p_ _lease be as careful as you have been till now because what I hear about the Blitz is really terrifying to hear especially when I know that you're in the very centre of it._

 _I'm looking forward to hearing more about your Olive and Claire, they both seem extremely very different from each other but because of this fact I think you three will make a brilliant clan._

 _I have never thought that I will say something like this but there you go: I'm so glad that I have so many exams at school!_ _Revising is really tiring and therefore makes me not to think about the war so much. Especially all of the poems I have to study are making my life so much more interesting, as you probably know already._

 _It's so very different without Jake or Gil around, although they were never loud or trying to make themselves visible, it seems as if our "little circle of friendship" as Gil used to call it, is missing something._ _I suppose it will be even harder when we will go back to Glen for Chrismtas and this time_ you _will be missing too… To be honest I just realised that_ you _will be missing!_ You _, Julia! Oh, now I know it will never be the same Christmas without you singing Chrismats carols in your wonderful voice which is so perfect for our favourite "_ Winter Wonderland _". Do you remember when about four years ago, you and I both went together to Rainbow Valley on a Christmas Day and sang so loudly that Mother shouted out to us to be quiet "for Heavens' sakes!"? There we go, I'm sighing again._

 _Do you have any plans for your Christmas in London? Are you going 'to town'? Or maybe you and other nurses will have your own lovely supper with other soldiers?_

 _You ask me about Rose and her relationship with John. Well, I think I don't have to tell you that she's experiencing being in a state where love is a complete blindness._ _She spends her every evening with John because he is thinking about enlisting after Christmas._ _I can understand that she is scared for him and that she wants to spend more time with him before he goes but, Julia, I'm afraid that her grades are affected by this relationship and this really_ isn't _good._ _Walter and I tried to talk to her but... you know Rose, she won't listen to us and says that her grades are doing just fine "_ as always _"._

 _If you could maybe tell her in your next letter that she should think about her grades more often, that would be very proper in this situation. You are the only person she can at least '_ try' _to listen to._

 _I'm sending you my new bunch of poems which I will try to publish next week in "_ The Journal _". Tell me, before I'll go to do it, if they are good enough or not. Shoot straight through me, Sheba._

 _Oh, you also ask me about Cornelia. She's doing just fine. She's sending me new socks, jumpers and scarfs every single week! She really is a darling and her knitting skills are pretty wonderful. I sometimes wish that I could take her to those dance clubs which she adores and see a smile on her face once again. And so_ _I do intend to take her for a dance when I'll be back in Glen. She deserves some fun and I suppose I do as well. It will do us both good._

 _Now, dearest, I have to say goodnight._

 _Write to me as often as you can, and_ do _send me more photos of you in your uniform in which you look positively splendid._

 _Goodnight,_

 _Yours,_

 _Blythe Ford_

* * *

Julia, after three weeks of working in London's hospital could almost say that she was used to the night's bombing. She was using her time in the shelter to write back to her family, which always took a very long time to do. Her small night-table was overfilled with paper, letters, envelopes, stamps, Blythe's poems and Cee's drawings.

Claire was really trying her best not to be selfish or rude to either Julia or Olive and indeed was making progress because she could see how much Julia loved Olive and Olive loved Julia. She was very jeaolous of their friendship.

Olive and Julia were always singing and dancing in the shelter together, even though they could hear the near explosions and the shaking of a lamp above their heads. All of the soldiers and nurses loved the two of them and started calling them "their two stars of the shelter". Julia and Olive could bring the feeling of joy even when the world around them was falling into pieces. Even their Matron, Mrs Ashby, enjoyed their duet and that was regarded as the biggest compliment anyone can ever get.

Julia's portable radio was in constant use in her room. She, Olive and Claire listened to all the war-news and Winston Churchill's speeches every evening while sitting nervously on Julia's bed. It was definitely the best thing after their duty, when they listened to all the war-new, and later listened and sang along to all the songs they knew so well and made them feel _almost_ at home.

At the end of October, the Battle of Britain was over; the Allies won. Julia immediately wrote to Gilly asking him if he could meet up with her for just a few hours, however by the time he got her letter Gil was already on his way towards Greece. " _At least he's safe and sound_." Julia thought that night "Now _he is. But he's going to Greece and anything can happen to him there. And I won't be around to help him."_ But she pushed the thought away and wrote to Gil beautiful and cheerful Christmas wishes.

Christmas was getting closer and closer and Olive was supposed to go to Surrey for a two weeks' leave. "Oh, I _don't_ want to go!" she outbursted and tapped her feet on the floor like a little girl "But I have to, I promised Michael." she clasped her hands together and sighed.

"So that leaves you and me together for Christams." Julia said with a small grin on her face, looking at Claire knowingly.

Claire looked at Julia meaningfully and then looked back at her newly polished nails "We'll have fun, won't we?" she said, smiling a bit shyly.

"Of _course_ you will!" Olive said enthusiastically and then after few seconds she sighed once again "Oh, I _really_ don't want to go!"

* * *

But she went, whether she liked it or not. But before Olive went to the Victoria Station, she gave Julia and Claire Christmas presents; Julia got an envelope full of photos which Olive took on their one-day leave in November, when they were walking around London together; and Claire gained a new set of nail polish. Julia gave her " _dear, crazy girl_ " a packet of hair clips in many different shapes which Olive immediately put into her hair. Claire got a copy of " _Romeo and Juliet_ " from Julia who knew that she would buy it for her ever since Claire said that she has _never_ read any poetry whatsoever. "I can allow you wearing make-up but I _can't_ allow you, not ever, not to read poetry _and_ being my friend at the same time!" Julia said to her while giving Claire her present on a Christmas Day.

The Christmas Day was a normal day at work for both Julia and Claire, apart from the Christmas tree standing in the reception and Christmas decoration around the patients' beds. " _And then we had a very lovely Christmas supper._ " Julia wrote to Walt that afternoon " _The meal wasn't as good as if Mother or Grandmothers would do it, but even though it was very nice of the cook to give us some "turkey" (which we knew wasn't an actual turkey for it is far too expensive to buy because of the rationing) and the Christmas pudding. And thank Goodness, we can sleep peacefully this night, the bombing from both sides has been postponed till the 27th._ "

* * *

Three days after the Christmas Day, the post came and Julia got quite a big package which she knew wasn't just a letter. She grinned when she saw the fammiliar hand-writing at the front of it "Oh, it's from Blythe!" she said, her eyes almost dancing from excitement.

"Goodness, you got _so_ many Christmas presents from your family!" Claire said half-sighing when she opened the small envelope from her Grandmother Emily. Julia humphed and started opening the package quickly, excited with the thought about what she could possibly get from Blythe.

" _Oh_ …" her voice broke when she saw what was inside. In Julia's hands there were withered roses which Julia completely forgot about. Three years earlier, Blythe and Julia found mysterious little garden full of roses, right in the middle of the forest, near the Four Winds. Julia picked up the flowers and gave them to Blythe, making him to vow to send them to her on the Christmas of 1940. They never discovered the little garden again and that's why she didn't even think that he would remember this promise.

The roses were so fragile, yet breathtaking as they still smelled like roses, but their scent was so much sweeter, so much more… alive somehow, Julia thought when she put her face into the flowers, trying to remember the exact smell of them.

Julia noticed that there was something between the withered roses. She put her hand deeper into the small bouquet and found the copy of "The Journal". On the third page there was a Blythe's published poem called " _Roses of the Blue Sky_ " which he sent her just two weeks earlier to receive her opinion about it, which of course was extremely positive.

And with seeing this poem and reading it all over again, Julia sinked down in her bed and felt how slowly and gradually the small tears flowed across her cheeks down onto the roses lying on her legs.


	12. Patient From Greece

**Chapter XII**

 _Dearest Walt, Rose and Blythe,_

 _I am writing this letter to the three of you, as I won't have time to write three seperate ones!_ _I'm so glad that your New Year's Eve was wonderful and very homey. I hope that your return to Redmond was just as pleasant too._

 _Right now, I am training to gain more experience with anesthetics, to help surgeons during surgeries on very badly wounded soldiers we get. I am really proud of myself and with every new thing I learn, I feel more and more experienced nurse (I still can't quite believe that I am a nurse!)._

 _I don't know if you've heard already or not, but on the 29th of December, London was standing almost entirely in fire. It was the most terryfing night of my life._ _Just after Christmas, Claire, me and some other nurses were switched onto the night-duty (6pm till 6am), which is so much worse than the day-duty because the patients who are wounded quite badly, can't sleep and need our constant help._ _Anyway, on the 29th, we were prepared that the Blitz will start all over again, but by God, not on this scale! I don't know what time it was, but suddenly, without any hearing of sirens, we all heard explosions near our hospital, later screaming of people outside._ _I was sure that the bombing started and so I shouted to all the nurses to help the soldiers who can walk, to go to the shelter and not wait for the sirens to start ringing._ _Mrs Ashby, our Matron, got red and her face looked just like a perfect round tomato. She shouted at me: "How dare you give commands to the nurses when_ I _am the Matron?!". I helped Mr Richard Tomney to stand up from his bed and answered calmly: "Because the bomb can drop on the hospital in any moment, Matron." and with this she bit her lip nervously, and agreed to my commands._

 _I was the last one to get to the shelter as I was very concerned about all the men who had to stay in their beds, most of them were unconscious and didn't even know what was happening. I was scared to death that something could have happened to them._ _As quickly as I got into the shelter, the war alarm siren started ringing above us and all the other nurses who were asleep in their beds ran down to the shelter as well._ _We knew that the bombing that night was much worse than any other during the Blitz because of the shaking ceiling and the lamp above us which was constantly turning on and off._ _Somehow, I really don't know how when I look at it now, I managed to sing "Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye" for the whole room full of nurses and soldiers._ _I think that I sang it to make myself feel better as well, trying not to think about the burning London above me._ _When we came out, after around four hours of patient waiting in the shelter, we were overjoyed to find our hospital still standing._ _But what I saw outside was a total chaos._

 _My heart went still and I thought I will cry for I couldn't believe that the view in front of me was still the dear, beautiful London._ _I know one thing which this war already taught me: people are really incredible when they all work together, and they can make miracles! Me and some other nurses (Claire as well!) went outside after our duty and helped people to recover the remains of their houses and streets. It was one of those experiences which are both traumatising and unbelivebly hopeful. We were helping people to recover their houses and all the furniture and other things that people had in them. Even though it was terryfing to see so many houses collapsed to the ground, it was amazing how all of these people could smile through and talk to us like to their friends._

 _Now, it's nearly 10 o'clock in the morning and so I really have to go to sleep or otherwise I will fall on Mrs Ashby's lap and sleep there until she'll push me on the floor._

 _Write to me everyday (each of you!), if you can and tell me all about your Redmond-stories!_

 _I love you all,_

 _Always Yours,_

 _Julia Una Blythe (Your Bathsheba)_

* * *

February 1941 came very quickly and almost unexpectadly. Julia thought that she nearly completely left her soul (and body) of a child and stepped into a soul of a grown-up. " _Nearly_ " because Julia could never be a complete grown-up, no matter how many horrors she would see in her life.

Her days were going very quickly because she wasn't just taking care of the soldiers' wounds but she could finally also help with the surgeries and she absolutely loved it. Even Mrs Ashby thought that Julia was one of the most enthusiastic nurses in the hospital.

The soldiers were coming and going, coming and going, and although Julia tried her best to count how many she nursed, she wasn't able to do it, she wasn't even able to talk to any of them and to meet any more "kindred spirits". But of course she was happy for every soldier who was cured and could either come back to the front or go home. Because not every soldier was lucky enough to be cured completely, and Julia was always very downhearted after each of her patient who didn't live long enough to see another sunrise or sunset. But in situations like that, she was always writing to the family of the soldier who died and was writing to his parents or siblings or sweethearts all about how he died, how strong he was and how very wonderful.

Julia was also in a constant touch with every person in her family, and they knew all the details from her life and she knew all the small and funny accidents which happened in Glen or Four Winds, whether it was how Una's Nancy fell from her desk on which she was standing and broke her ankle, or how Di's small Tom ran out of the house without his pants on and pretended to be a ghost.

Merry and Jake (with Marshall) were moved to the North of Africa at the end of January and were sending Julia letters about how hot and humid the air was there. Gilly, however didn't write much and it made Julia quite worried but soon enough she would know the reason he didn't reply for her letters.

* * *

On the 11th of February, Julia, Olive and Claire started the next day of their work at night-duty. The new men arrived that night, Julia first thought that they were from the navy but Mrs Ashby corrected her saying that they were from the air force. Julia gulped and got goosebumps, thinking about Gilly who, God forbid, might as well be between those blessed boys. She carried on with her work though, and slowly stopped thinking about Gil and whether he arived at the hospital or not.

It was nearly five o'clock in the morning, when Julia finished bandaging the last man's arm, smiling to him as she always used to. Her hair was all messed up, her uniform covered in small or big blood stains, and her hands almost shaking from tiredness.

"Bath! _Bath_!" Olive called out while she was running hurriedly towards Julia with her burning cheeks.

Julia turned to Olive and grabbed her hands in worry " _What_ happened, Olive?!" she inquired with her heart beating faster and faster, her thoughts fulfilled with many different scenarios about what happend or will happen.

"There's a man in the east angle who wants to see you immediately! His name is Ford!" Olive replied with a half-grin on her face.

Julia's eyes got bigger and her cheeks flushed with emotions " _Gil_ Ford?" Julia whispered, hardly trying to hide the smile forming on her mouth.

"Yes, yes, Gilbert Ford, I'm sure." she answered and before she did or said anything else, her friend was rushing to the east angle with increasing speed. Julia was looking at each bed with shaking hands and tears in her eyes, praying not to see Gilly in a state from which he can't recover from.

She was half-happy and half-horrified. Gilly, her darling boy-cousin, was there in the hospital in which she was working. She was incredibly joyful and eager to see him but at the same time she feared the image she might see. Will he be blind? Or with an amputated arm or leg? Maybe his face will be burnt? No, Julia couldn't think about things like this, and she continued with searching for her friend.

"Nurse Blythe at last!" a fammiliar manly but weak voice said from behind Julia.

She turned around quickly and there he was, no one else but Gilbert Ford lying on the hospital bed right in front of her "Gil! Oh, _Gilbert_!" Julia gasped and threw herself on Gil's bed. He had his left arm and neck bandaged. His face was cleaned but had a few cuts on it with a small bruise right under his left eye. Other than that he seemed positively happy and Julia saw the sight of relief reflecting in his eyes.

"Remember about the arm, Sheba!" he chuckled when he finally got out of Julia's tight hug.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gil." she whispered in a cheerful tone with her watery eyes, thinking that all of that had to be the product of her own imagination "Gil _what_ happened to you?" she asked eventually, still holding onto his hands.

He smilled to her again "We had a small accident along the way, as you can see." he said without any fear or sadness in his voice, pointing at his bandaged arm.

"A _small_ accident?" Julia repeated with a raised eyebrow.

He chuckled "You didn't change a bit, did you, Jules?" he patted Julia's hand gently "Our plane was bombed, by a total accident but thankfully it wasn't bombed so badly it exploded, it just stopped working and in the end we all landed in the nearby river." he explained as if nothing happened at all.

"Well then you really _were_ lucky, weren't you?" she replied and kissed Gilly's hand once again "And we meet at last!" she laughed and so did Gil.

"Yes, under the most unexpected circumastances of course." he said with a smirk crossing his exhausted face "Tell me, how are _you_ , Jules?"

"I am perfectly fine and very much occupied, I must admit." she answered looking around at all the new men that arrived that night.

Gil nodded in agreement "I can imagine... So…" he started but Mrs Ashby interrupted their converstaion with her old and grumpy voice.

"Nurse _Blythe_! What do you think you're doing?!" she shouted looking at both Julia and Gilly, rushing to Gil's bed with clenched fists.

"I'm sorry Matron, but this is my cousin and a friend and…" Julia started explaining, again being interrupted by Mrs Ashby.

"No excuses, thank you very much!" she said irritated "Now go back to work! Your duty ends in forty minutes!" she waved her hands towards the hall.

Julia looked over to Gil who just smiled at her "Go, I have to get some sleep anyway, we'll talk later." he said and winked at her knowingly.

She jumped to his bed once again and kissed his cheek "I'll see you later but try not to wander off too much!" she giggled.

Gil chuckled and just after few seconds after closing his eyes, he drifted into the world of night and the deepest of dreams.

* * *

Gil spent the next two months at Julia's hospital and both of them, joined sometimes by joyful Olive and interested Claire, were spending at least one hour of talking after their duty every single day.

" _He didn't change at all, thank Goodness._ " Julia wrote to her parents just four days after Gil arrived at her hospital " _He even seems more lively than he was beofre the war. I just hope that he isn't just pretending… No, I don't think Gil would ever do that, and that's why I am so pleased to see him, truly_ see _him. I check up on him every day, even though the other nurse does it as well, so you can tell Aunt Rilla and Uncle Ken that he is in really good hands. Gil, who was so scared of going to the front, is now very excited about going back "_ as soon as possible _"! I just hope that he really means that._ "

But Gilly did change, maybe not on the inside, but on the outside. His chest got wider and his face looked so much like a face of an adult, "no more any sweet dimples of yours, are there Gil?". Gilly looked more and more like his father, and Julia couldn't believe that a child can be such an ideal copy of one of his parents. Gil was just irritated that he couldn't take Julia or one of her "lovely friends" in his strong arms and dance with them across the hall.

" _No, Dad and Mum,_ " Julia concluded her letter with a smile on her lips " _-Gil didn't change at all._ "

* * *

At the very beggining of March, early in the morning Julia received a short telegram from Kingsport which said: " _Julia, I married John yesterday. It was just us at the ceremony. John is enlisting on Monday._ ".

Julia looked at the small piece of paper in her hands with blank expression on her face. Her Rose? This crazy, wonderful singer and her most beautiful girl-cousin with so many views and dreams and hopes, married? _Married_? Wearing a gold band on her fourth finger of her right hand? Julia sighed, she was so disappointed that she couldn't see Rose's happy, radiating face at her wedding day. She knew that she must have looked amazingly beautiful and simply dashing.

"Rose? _Married_?" Julia said in disbelief on the same day, when she read out the telegram to Gil.

"The first one to marry out of our generation." Gil grinned and patted Julia's hand "You're not angry at her, are you?" he asked with a raised brow.

"No, I'm not angry at her, just a bit shocked." she chuckled bitterly "I knew she would marry John in secret, to make our family gossip about it for the next year or so…" she and Gil laughed "But I understand why she did it and I think that she really loves him, for all the letters I got from her, the three quarters of them were about John."

"And this only makes me wonder, who will be the next one to marry out of our clan?" Gil asked with a smile while slowly touching the scar on his cheek.

Julia looked at the floor, with her cheeks flushed. She smiled for a second, imagining how she would look like if she would be the next one to marry. She would buy one of those fancy dresses, and make herself a flowery veil… No, she shook her head. In order to be married, she would have to marry _someone_. And she knew that her heart was beating with only one other heart, a heart of a man with black curly hair, and grey, grey, _grey_ , shining eyes of a poet. "I think that I really don't want to know that." Julia whispered half absent-mindedly, lost in her own little world in her own head.

* * *

 _Dear Julia,_

 _I know you've been waiting for this letter for a while, but I was so busy with exams that it really was hard to even write one letter as short as this one._ _I probably sound silly to you talking about being busy with exams while you save other people's lives everyday!_

 _I married John Richardson last Friday, straight after our lessons (John finished his course in Redmond that day as well). I married him so quickly because he wanted to enlist next Monday and it was_ me _who proposed to him, as strange as it probably is to many people. But I know that you would do the same for the man you love, you understand me better than anyone, Sheba._

 _So, we married very quietly on Friday afternoon with just John, me, Blythe and Walt and no one else escept us in the church (and the priest of course!). Then, John took me for a two days long honeymoon, to Medford, to his parents. They are so nice and so very understanding for our quick marriage, I had to fall in love with them immediately._

 _My darlingest of all_ husband _(!) enlisted, as he wanted, on Monday and tomorrow he's leaving for his training course in Toronto and so I know that I won't sleep tonight, I can't think of anything else but seeing him in his new uniform of a navy officer, at the train station tomorrow. Tomorrow, Juliet! Tomorrow! Oh, my heart is breaking!_

 _I am so hysteric, as you know, and I cry every five minutes. And these are the moments when I miss you, my sweet Bathsheba and dearest Jake the most of all._

 _I have to turn off my lights now._

 _Goodnight, my dearest Juliet, and please could you say one of your prayers for my John?_

 _Always Yours,_

 _Anna Rosemary Richardson_

* * *

At the end of March, Julia got a one day leave from work to catch a bus to King's Cross station, to see Gilly going back to the front in Greece. They didn't talk much during their journey to King's Cross but both of them were thinking about the same things. That was when Julia realised that Gil was scared, almost terrifyed of going back to the front.

"Gil, please be honest with me, and tell me: Do you _want_ to go back there?" Julia asked him when they stepped on the King's Cross station, walking hand-in-hand, Gilly in his RCAF uniform and Julia in her VAD uniform.

He sighed and half-grinned to her "Yes, I _am_. But aren't you scared when you hear the sirens outside your hospital?" he asked her, squeezing her hand from time to time.

"I am, but I _can_ cope with it and therefore my question is: can _you_?" she whispered to him as if she was asking him a secret question.

"Yes, but I fail sometimes." he said and his voice broke at the end, making Julia throw her arms around her cousin's neck and hug him tightly.

"Gil, listen to me," she whispered into his ear "-I will pray for you every night and I will think of you, wherever you are and wherever I am. And remember: your family loves you, and _I_ love you and we will be with you, _always_."

Gilly looked at her with tears in his eyes and he smiled to her with a smile which always appears on people's faces when they know that whatever misery will bring them, there will be always someone by their side "Thank you, Sheba. You always know what to say." he whispered back.

And then he jumped on his train, still holding Julia's hand in his own "And _I_ love _you_ , Jules, do you know that?" he asked her, half-grinning.

"Yes, I do." she replied softly and squeezed his hand assuringly "Promise me that you'll be careful out there?"

"I promise, no matter what." and with that the train started moving and Julia's hand slipped out of Gilly's hand. Her eyes again filled up with warm tears, and her heart started beating quite fast. She said to him goodbye earlier, didn't she? Why was she scared now, when he was lucky enough to survive this "accident", as he called it and get well again, almost without a single scratch? But Julia was strong, and she took a deep breath and her lips formed into a tender smile, which she knew would give her Gil courage to go to the front.

And so she waved to him as long as she could see the small dot on the horizon, knowing that whatever Gil ever promised or will promise, will become true.


	13. What's To Come

**Chapter XIII**

 _Dear Julia,_

 _I think I will never quite believe that today is the very first day of July 1941, can you? It seems so far away; the last Christmas, you know. Although people say that when the exams come and with them revising, the time goes as quickly as ever; well, certainly not for me. At least I'm finished with Redmond now, and I actually don't know what to do with myself, with no you, Gil, Jake or Merry around during the whole summer._

 _Me and our family are so very proud of you. I can feel that I'm almost_ drinking _up the pride whenever I think of you, and that happens very often, I assure you. I have no idea how much hope and faith you do have in you to still getting more experience in nursing while saving other poeple's lives as bravely as you do, every single day. You must lend me one of your recipes for "keeping faith", and I shall try ot out immediately._

 _I wish I was just half as brave as you are, Sheba. I think that I feel like Uncle Walter once did, twenty-five years ago. I am so scared of going to the front, so_ so _scared. I can't imagine things that are happening on the front without getting shivers or goosebumps. But... I can feel that everyone expects me to go. I know that now you're probably saying that_ you _don't want me to go and I'll believe you, Sheba, but others I just know they_ want _me to._ _Whenever I hear my Dad talking with your Dad about Merry and Gil at the front, I feel as if I was the odd one, the one that stands out, in a bad way._

 _I know that I should go, I think I_ might _go after all, but I'm so frightened to go there and_ kill _other people who are as innocent as we all are. Ironic, isn't it? Poeple fighting against people, people killing people… I sometimes wonder if there really is a God._ _I said this to Cornelia and she looked at me as if I was a traitor and said: "How can you question such a thing?". But I think that inside she is asking herself the same question, with her brother at the front as well._

 _I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about war for so long, especially to you who knows more about it than I do, or maybe ever will._ _You ask me if I wrote any new poems lately; the answer is yes I did and they will be published in the next "Journal". By the way, I feel very proud that you still have my poems from before Christmas and read them from time to time, becasue I actually wrote them mostly for you. I'm sending you my new ones today._

 _I'm really glad that the Blitz is over for you, I've seen photos of London from about a month ago and I couldn't believe that this is the place you describe to me in such wonderful terms…_ _There, I talk about war again! Tell me, dear, what do_ you _think about me enlisting? But be honest please._

 _Mum calls from downstairs and so I'll have to go._

 _Rose has some big news to tell you but I'll let her do the job._

 _I'm impatiently waiting for your next letter._

 _Yours,_

 _Blythe Ford_

* * *

 _Dear Juliet,_

 _I am the happiest person in the world! Although my husband is at the front, I can feel nothing else but happiness!_ _Dearest Bathsheba, I am_ pregnant _! Almost 16 weeks along! Julia, I will be a_ Mother _! A Mum, a Mummy, or a Mother-dear like you call Auntie Faith._

 _I must be selfish to think about such things when the war is going on around me and people, our own Canadian boys are dying every single day, but I can't force myself to think of anything else._ _I think it will be a boy, you know, I can_ feel _it, although if you would ask me how, I cannot tell. It's Mother Nature, I suppose._ _If it will be a boy, I'll call him Jake for my bravest of all brother, or Jerry for Dad. However, if it will be a girl, I'll call her for you my darling, Juliet or Julia._

 _John is over the moon and he said to me in his last letter, when he was still on land, that he can't think of anything else as well now, even though he will be sent somewhere on the Atlantic in three days._ _I told John's parents about the baby too, and they immediately invited me for a month long stay in Medford in August and I accepted, they'll be grandparents after all._

 _My parents are delighted, especially Mum. She even said to me after Uncle Jem, your Dad I mean, examined me "Gosh, this is the happiest thing that could ever happen during the war!" and I couldn't agree more._

 _Anyway, you probably want to know what John and I plan to do after the war; when John will come back (and I know he_ will _) he and I will probably move to Montreal, where his uncle works as a Maths proffessor, other than that, I think it's quite too early to think about what will happen in a one, two or maybe three years' time._

 _And with that I have to go to Grandmother Rosemary because she asked me to help her with preparing dinner (our whole clan is invited) for tonight._

 _Write to me as often as you can, sweetie._

 _Yours,_

 _Anna Rosemary Richardson_

* * *

 _Dear Sister,_

 _You probably know already how proud I am of you and your huge achievement. Compared to you, my diploma from Maths is really nothing to what you do every day._

 _This letter is short because I am very very busy because you see, I'm giving Maths lessons to all the kids in our Glen, Four Winds and at the weekends in Charlottetown as well._ _I'm doing fine and the summer will go very quickly for me, although I don't really want to do this kind of job my whole life._

 _Lily already declared that she will come to Glen for the next Christmas and I'm so happy I can feel how my feet are lifting up. I just hope that you will like her when you two will eventually meet! But I'm sure you will, you are quite simmilar in a way, you both love books, and nature and history. I'm almost positive that you will become friends._

 _I will be honest with you, dear sister, and I will tell you that I'm thinking of signing up. I'm not very scared, not as much as Blythe seems to be at least. I'm actually alright with the thought because I really feel that this is my duty which I must follow._ _But don't worry, I won't follow the Piper soon, maybe after New Year's Eve. But I'm still thinking and debating with myself about the idea of going overseas._

 _And you know Mother, she doesn't want me to go but Father said: "Merry got my permission and so will you if you feel that you must go."._

 _I really have to go now, Julia dear, or otherwise I will be late for my lesson in Four Winds which starts in half an hour!_

 _Love you always,_

 _Your brother and a friend,_

 _Walter Blythe_

* * *

Julia sighed and sinked down in her bed with her hand holding the new arrived letters, resting on her forehead. The day-duty, to which she was signed in for the next three months has just finished and both she and Olive had time to read their letters from their family while Claire was taking a shower in the bathroom.

"I am too exhausted to go to sleep." Julia said and put the letters on the side of her night-table, sighing.

Olive looked at her friend and chuckled "I've never heard of anything like this before but I must say that I believe you." she said and sat next to Julia, putting her hand on Julia's arm.

"How's Michael?" Julia asked her.

"Very bored." Olive replied looking at the letter she was holding in her hands "He says that he feels as if he signed up to just sit and stare in the sapce in front of him in the trenches." she and Julia chuckled together.

"He probably did." Julia answered and then sighed again "Walt and Blythe are thinking of enlisting." she said eventually, her eyes watching the ceiling.

"You knew it will happen sooner or later." Olive said with a raised brow.

"That's true." Julia agreed, still looking at the small empty hole in the ceiling above her head "But I just can't bear the thought of all my cousins, friends and brothers going to the front!" she exclaimed and groaned while putting her letters aside.

Olive squeezed her arm friendly "It will be fine, you'll see, besides think at the bright sides. Don't you want to see your Blythe in a khaki unifrom, looking _so_ dashingly handsome?" she raised her eyebrow and grinned at Julia meaningfully.

Julia sat back on her bed and looked at Olive sternly "No, I don't." Julia replied seriously.

Olive nudged her at the side "Come on, cheer up, sweet! And don't think about it until they _do_ enlist. Who knows maybe the war will end before they do?" she said optimistically, waving her hands.

"I don't think it will, Liv." Claire came out of the bathroom while brushing her long blonde hair.

"Don't listen to her." Olive said to Julia again, rolling her eyes "And just write them back and eat those cookies my Mother sent to me yesterday." she pointed at the bag standing on the windowsill.

Julia smiled at Olive and quickly grabbed the cookie from the bag "Claire, where are you going?" she asked her friend as she was walking up and down the room, putting on her red polka dotted dress and her red lipstick at the same moment. Both Julia and Olive knew perfectly well that Claire never put on make-up _after_ her duty.

"I'm going out with Captain Lewis Andrews who invited me to a dinner at Leicester Square." she said with her cheeks fiery, not looking friends at all.

Julia and Olive exchanged their hidden looks knowingly "I see…" Julia said and couldn't help herself and so she ended up giggling.

"Stop laughing!" Claire demanaded when she eventually turned around to face Julia rather than the mirror in front of her.

"How long do you know him, Claire?" Olive inquired when she could catch her breath at last.

"Two days." Claire replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, that's _very_ quick then!" Julia said with a mocking surprise in her tone "What's he like?" she asked, this time with a real interest in her voice.

"Positively handsome, I assure you." Claire said emphasising the word "assure" so much that Julia and Olive rolled their eyes again.

"Is that all you ever think of when it comes to a man?" Julia asked her.

"No, but it _is_ important, isn't it?" Claire said sarcastically and put on her high heels swiftly "Well, then I'm going. _Cheerio_ , girls!" she said in a high-pitched voice.

" _Cheerio_ , Claire!" Julia and Olive said together in the same tone as her. When the door closed behind her, the two of them started laughing so hard, they were sure that they won't be able to go to sleep in at least three more hours.

* * *

 _Dearest Luna,_

 _Thank you so much for your_ perfect _brownies! Olive was simply in the highest of Heavens when she tried them and even Claire agreed with me that they really are wonderful in every possible way._ _I'm so glad that you, Leslie and Cilia do some knitting work for the Red Cross and I'm really proud of you, my lovely girls. How I sometimes wish that I could sit by the Ingleside's fireplace with you, Cilia, Leslie and Rose by my side and just talk, talk and_ talk _!_

 _But I love what I do, don't get me wrong, Luna-Moona. Helping others really is my goal in life and I feel that God made me in order to save other people's lives, just like He destined Father and Grandfather to do exactly so._ _Don't worry about me, dearest, the worst time for London is over and I'm in no dramatic danger, except for some bombing which happens once in a while, but it's nothing like the Blitz, believe me._

 _Sweetheart, you ask me about my feelings for Blythe… Well, they certainly didn't change and there are times when I wish they did and just a second after this thought I want to spank myself for it!_ _I really love him_ so _dearly and with ever letter he sends me and a poem he writes and gives me his own copy in his hand-writing (Blythe's hand-writing is so unbeliveably neat!), I feel as if I grow a second heart, made up just for him to love him asdearly as I do in this very moment._

 _Have you read his book of poems called "_ The Violets of Yesterday and The Roses of Tomorrow _" yet? Oh, I think that even Shakespeare would like to steal this bunch of poems from Blythe!_ _Do you know what he said to me in his last letter? He said that "he misses my voice like the trees can miss the wind when it's not blowing". And because of such small statements he makes, of which he isn't even aware of making, my heart is just melting and melting and melting all over and all over again._

 _But enough of my "Blythe thing" as Rose calls it. I know I just have to let the Providence do its thing. Gosh, I sound just like Mary Vance! I mean Mary Douglas…_ _Tell me, Luna from the Moon, does your heart have its desires too? Or maybe not yet? You know, I think that Merry really loves your letters you send him. He wrote me that somehow, they keep him strong and positive throughout this "war situation"._

 _I have to go to sleep now,_

 _Take care, darling and write to me whenever you like!_

 _Your crazy cousin and a loyal friend,_

 _Nurse Julia Una Blythe_

* * *

Summer was very exhausting. Julia, Olive and Claire had lots of work as always, but it was much worse when the temperature got quite high and all wounded soldiers started moaning even more than during the winter-time. Claire was seeing her "boyfriend" Lewis Andrews ever so often that Julia and Olive expected to see the diamond ring on her finger any minute.

Merry, Jake and Marshall got transfered to Newfoundland, and that was when Merry accepted the position of a Captain and began his training there. " _My hands are shaking from excitement again, Jules!_ ". However when it came to Gil, nobody could be sure where he was each passing day, as one day he was flying over Greece, then the week after he got transfered to Germany and then to Finland. But it seemed to Julia that all of her boys actually enjoyed themselves at the front and weren't as frightened as she thought they would be, for which she was extremely thankful.

Luna wrote back to Julia and said that she might feel something for Merry, but she's not sure at all yet and is too scared to even allow herself to love a boy who could die any minute at the front. Julia smiled at the thought of a couple containg of her loud tap-dancer Merry with his red curls and wickedness spread across his frecled-face, and a small, lovely and shy Luna, looking like a real fairy in the moonlight. But to her own surprise she thought that they would make a splendid match together however big their differences were.

" _And this only makes me wonder,_ " she thought to herself " _How did God invented love? It is the most precious of all the treasures out there in the world and at the same time, so strange and mysterious._ ". And then she remembered what Blythe once told her about love: " _Love is such an unexplained mystery and I should hope that maybe one day in the future I will be able to explain it in a way my wife will only understand. Don't you think it would be quite an impressive achievement, to actually make her and_ only _her to understand?_ "

And with this Julia sighed bitterly again, closed her eyes and allowed the ghost of dreams haunt her soul for the rest of the night.

* * *

 **Thank you everyone who is reading my story! Please review and let me know what you all think/like/dislike about it! :) - Bathsheba Blythe**


	14. Keep Hope

**Chapter XIV**

 _Dear Julia,_

 _I'm so glad that your cold is almost over and that you don't have to stay in bed anymore. Aunt Faith and Grandmother Blythe prepared lots of cake for you to send but Uncle Jem gave them his speech to remind them that you're not actually_ dying _and they left the cake for Cee, Nancy, Cordelia and Tom instead._

 _The summer is over and I started teaching at our old but still good Glen school. It's quite an interesting experience I must confess, to teach in the classroom where we as children always had our English lessons, which only you and me understood and actually liked. I sometimes smile at the memories which flow through my mind whenever I sit down in my chair and look around the classroom, seconds before the lesson starts. It's then when I can almost hear your quiet gasps you always made whenever our teacher, Miss Hemington read a poem by Tennyson or Keats. From my first impressions I come to a conclusion that the children aren't very interested in poetry or English generally but I just have to cope with it somehow. Jenny Penhallow asked me today who Jane Austen is! Can you believe_ this _?_

 _Sheba, it is because of you and your long but wonderful letter which convinced me not to enlist now, or anytime in the future. I promise you that I won't sign up and you know that when I promise_ you _something, I really mean it._ _I am definitely too scared to go and just… shoot someone who might be a son, a husband, a brother, a cousin, a friend or a sweetheart to someone else… That's just not me at all._

 _But enough of me, I'll tell you all about our lovely family, although you are probably more informed about all the events that happened more than I am. I will at least tell you how's everyone doing from my point of view._ _Leslie, Luna and Cilia are working for the Red Cross to the loss of their breath. Leslie is even thinking of signing up as a VAD like "her sweet and brave Julia" did. I'm really pleased with this idea and I think that our parents don't mind as well._

 _Owen is at the top of every class at Queen's and I know that he will become a well-known businessman one day._ _Gil, you probably know yourself, is now in Italy and he thinks that he will stay there for a while but Father doesn't think so at all, and to be honest I don't either. Gil is so lucky, you know! To see England, Greece, Italy, Germany and Finland through the eyes of a bird is just overwhelming. But then... his job as a pilot is not an easy one as well._

 _You won't believe it and I myself think it to be quite funny, but your little eleven-year-old sister Cee is making sheep's eyes at my own brother Owen! And he is five years older than her! I have no idea how to think about_ that _._ _However talking about Cee, I really hope that she will become a well-known artist one day, she really has a gift of noticing things people don't usually notice and she's not afraid to use this gift._

 _Nancy is all over the place, as always, along with the small Cordelia and Tom who are becoming more and more talkative with ever year passing._ _Rose is six months pregnant and she has_ everything _ready for her new "delivery". She is positive that it's going to be a boy and I really hope it will be a girl so to prove her wrong for once in her life._

 _Cornelia broke her ankle and she orders me to see her every single day which becomes quite annoying as she can't leave her bed and it is such a nice weather outside. It seems that Rainbow Valley calls me to explore its magical treasures all over again._ _Cornelia told me that Marshall got wounded in his right arm but is recovering quickly with the positive thought of going back to the front in a month._

 _I'm sending you my newest published poems from "The Journal" with hope to see a mailman crossing our road and putting your next letter into our mailbox very soon, telling me whether or not you liked them printed out on a page of "The Journal"._

 _Tell me, how are Olive and Claire? Are you sure that you're not working yourself to death? And do you think you could get a leave for Christmas and come back to Prince Edward Island?_

 _I'm sending you lots and lots of warm kisses and hugs,_

 _Your faithful friend,_

 _Blythe Ford_

* * *

"Rose is due in the last week of November." Julia announced on one warm evening in October just before the start of her night-duty.

The sunset was creeping outside the hospital walls and Julia felt on that evening that it couldn't look more enchanting, even though she could see all of the damaged houses and streets on which the magical spell of sunset was shining.

"How wonderful!" Olive gasped and touched Julia's hand "She must be so happy!"

"She is almost paralyzed with happiness, I would say." Julia chuckled and so did Olive while playing with her hair.

"Is Rose this girl with long brown hair and slender nose, right… there?" Claire asked and pointed at the frame standing on Julia's table.

Julia nodded, looking at the picture of Rose standing outside the Redmond College with her brother Jake by her side, smiling from ear to ear, outshining everything around her as always "It is. She is the most beautiful of our whole family, they say."

"Do you know what?" Olive said and lay down on Julia's bed, watching the ceiling closely "I always wanted to know who's 'they'?" she asked in a mysterious kind of voice.

Julia humphed and looked at her friend with twinkling eyes "That's quite a good question, Olive!" she laughed.

"I know it is and that's why I wonder if anyone can ever answer it for me." she replied with a grin crossing her lips.

"I suppose you will have to wait for _them_ to explain it to you." Julia answered and the three girls started giggling toegther but they stopped when Mrs Ashby opened the door of their room rapidly, without any knocking first.

"You'll be late for your duty if you won't get up!" she shouted and as quickly as she came in, she came out.

"Let's go then, girls." Claire said and the three of them got into their uniforms hurriedly and left their room, starting the new day of their usual work of saving other people's lives.

* * *

"How many letters did you get this time, Julia?" Claire asked while ripping off the envelope from her grandmother.

It was the middle of November and the girls just finished their night-duty which was under the very curious eye of Mrs Ashby who happened to be especially intolerable on that day. All three of them were sitting on their beds, looking through their letters, as they always did, every week.

Julia grinned at the letters she was holding in her hands "There's one from Mother and Father, Grandmother Rosemary, Aunt Nan, another from Walt, one from Blythe, Merry and Jake wrote a short letter and there's also one from Cilia." she finished and started opening the letter from Blythe _first_.

Claire sighed again " _So_ many!"

"I know. Do you want to read them too?" Julia suggested knowing that Claire was feeling very lonley whenever Julia was reading out the millions of letters she was getting from her family each week while Claire was getting only one. Claire grinned happily and sat down by Julia quickly, with smile covering her face.

"Oh, _God_! No! _No_!" Olive gasped and put her hands on her mouth in despair.

Julia and Claire looked at their friend with worry and saw how Olive's cheeks turned red because of the waterfall of tears flowing on them. But although her cheeks were red, her hands were very pale and shaking, shaking so terribly that she dropped the letter she was holding on the floor.

Julia jumped from her bed immediately and threw her arms around Olive's shoulders " _What_ happened Olive?!" she asked and put her hand on Olive's hair and started stroking it gently.

"Michael… Oh, Michael is _dead-_ " she breathed out between the sobs.

* * *

Michael Jones died in action in the Battle of the Atlantic on the 11th of November, and this moment changed Olive, firstly for the worse as she was grieving after her only brother for a week without leaving her bed at any time. However after that week, and after long hours of talking with Julia about death, Julia's experience with Troy's death and keeping strong for all the boys "out there", she got better. Olive changed for the better as she did get stronger and promised herself not to grieve anymore but to always and no matter what, like Julia told her, " _to keep hope, dearest_ ".

" _Bacause hope is the only thing stronger than fear._ " Blythe wrote to Julia at the beginning of war and that was the sentence she would remember till the rest of her life and she would live by it _always_ , teaching other people its powerful meaning wherever she might be.

* * *

It was not always death that Julia, Olive or Claire experienced during the war. Nor it was always pain or fear. Not every soldier they tried to cure died, nor every soldier suffered or stopped believeing in the better days to come. Many of the soldiers got better and returned either to the front or back home, and that was always the finest price Julia and every other nurse could ever dream of. And it was also life that came to Julia's family at the end of November.

Rose gave birth to a healthy son whom she called Gerald Jake Richardson. 'Jackie', by what everyone called him, was the very first baby of the new generation in their family and he really was the sweetest and the chubbiest baby in Glen St. Mary. Rose wrote a long letter to Julia in which she described in detail his round face, big blue eyes, curly brown hair and " _perfectly perfect toes and fingers_ ".

"Do you want to have children, Olive, somewhere in the future?" Julia asked when her friend when she finished reading the Rose's letter outloud.

"Of _course_ I do!" Olive said and sighed joyfully "I love little children. I hope that I will have five or six one day." she said decidedly.

"Five _or_ six?" Julia repeated and shook her head "That's too many for me. I want to have two perfect babies. My Grandmother Blythe has seven children! I mean _five..._ who are alive today." she added the last bit with a loud sigh and put the letter away.

"When it comes to _me-_ " Claire added "I really don't like children and I don't intend on having even one in the future!"

"You will have children one day, you'll see." Olive said to her, glancing at Julia knowingly.

Claire humphed "I will _not_. They are fat and… uncleaned _all_ the time!" she said and shivered as if something disgusting crossed her mind. Julia and Olive giggled together.

"And what about _your_ Captain? Does _he_ want to have children?" Julia asked playfully and grinned knowingly to Olive.

"I would never talk about such things with a _man_ , Julia Una Blythe!" Claire said indignantly, her eyes being wider than usual.

"Why ever not?" Olive asked her curiously.

"There are some topics which girl shouldn't talk about with a man. That's what my Grandmama taught me and I'll obey everything she says." Claire replied sternly.

"Do you think that your relationship with him is something serious?" Julia asked her suddenly.

Claire shrugged "I don't know. Half of me hopes that 'yes', the other that 'no'… I don't know myself." she shook her head.

"And are you in _love_ with him?" Olive asked her with a raised brow.

Claire looked down, trying to hide her red cheeks and a smile on her lips "I think… I am. _Yes_ , I am in love with him." she said eventually in a voice which sounded as if she just discovered something extraordinary.

Olive opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the knock on the door "Come in!" she said loudly.

The door opened and Mrs Ashby entered the girls' room "I just wanted to tell you something _Nurse_ Blythe." she began in her usual cold manner.

"Yes, Matron?" Julia stood up quickly and felt how her heart began racing with the thought that maybe there's a long-distance call or a short telegram from P.E.I or the front.

"Me and the Head Nurse, Mrs Lowny, allow you to go on a three weeks leave beginning 15th of December." Mrs Ashby declared, crossing her arms.

Julia gasped and jumped under the wave of happiness which drifted over herwhole body "Oh, _thank_ you Matron! Thank _you_ so _so_ much! You don't know how happy I am in this very moment!" she shouted and started shaking Mrs Ashby's hand in gratitude, almost forbidding herself to kiss her cheeks.

However Mrs Ashby took her hand away immediately and scanned Julia from head to toe "Yes I _do_ know, Nurse Blythe. I have _eyes_ and I definitely have _ears_." she said and with that she exited the room.

* * *

 _Dear Sheba,_

 _We are all unbelievebly happy that you will spend your Christmas with us again! Mum, Dad and Cee jumped from their seats when they read your letter and I found myself not being able to do anything else_ but _to run and write to you._ _I can't wait to see you, dear sister o'mine! Don't you think you will be able to escape my arms throughout those two weeks you'll be back!_

 _And you will meet little Jackie! And I will be able to hear your voice again! And you will sing "Silent Night, Holy Night" for all of us again! Oh, I really think I will go mad until I'll see you at the train station in a three weeks time._

 _I have to tell you something, dear sister. Two days ago I told our family that I will enlist after the New Years Eve like I told you I wanted to, two months ago._ _This decision was very hard to make, I assure you. But I did decide and I feel good with it for I feel that it is my duty I have to fulfil. I can almost swear that a massive gulp which was in my throat for a long time, disappeared entirely._ _I will enlist to the LFC like Merry, Jake and Marshall did with hope that I will end up being in the trenches with them._

 _Father took my news well, Mother cried for a bit but then also said that she agrees on my going, and little Cee, well you know our sister, she couldn't stop hugging me for the rest of the afternoon._ _The others also took it well, I think. Blythe was the only one who showed me that he didn't like my news at all. He asked me if I know what I am doing and I replied that of course I know. And it's true, I_ know _what I'm doing and what I'll do; Merry wrote me a quite long letter describing exactly what he does day after day and so I think that I am_ partialy _aware of what awaits me._

 _Lily was very sad but at the same time she was very understanding. And that is the other reason she will come from Kingsport to Glen for Christmas, so that she can see me off after the New Years Eve._ _I am going to propose to her next Saturday. I'll catch my train in the morning and I will return in the evening. I'm getting more and more nervous, I do hope she will say "yes"!_

 _I have to go to my other lesson now._

 _I'll_ see _you soon then, dear sister!_

 _Always Yours,_

 _Walter Blythe_

* * *

Three days before Julia's journey to P.E.I., the telegram from Walter came with nothing but the jolly news: " _Lily said "yes". You'll meet her soon. - W.B._ ". " _I knew she would say "yes"_!" Julia thought to herself " _Oh how glad I am that at least my brother didn't experience the heartache I carry in my soul for almost two years!_ "

And with this she went towards her suitcase which got quite dusty while lying under her bed for a year and a half. She opened it and with a happy sigh, she finally felt that she was going home.


	15. Family Tree

**Thank you Kim Blythe and IrishPrincess for suggesting me to do the Blythe, Meredith and Ford family tree! There you go! ;)**

 **FAMILY TREE**

 **JAMES BLYTHE + FAITH MEREDITH (MARRIED IN 1919)**

Walter " _Walt_ " Cuthbert Blythe + Meredith " _Merry_ " James Blythe (b.1920)

Julia Una Blythe (b.1922)

Cecilia " _Cee_ " Elizabeth Blythe (b.1930)

 **ANNE "NAN" BLYTHE + GERALD "JERRY" MEREDITH (MARRIED IN 1919)**

John " _Jake_ " Gilbert Meredith (b.1921)

Anna " _Rose_ " Rosemary Meredith (b.1922)

 **DIANA "DI" BLYTHE + THOMAS "CARL" MEREDITH (MARRIED IN 1927)**

Cordelia Joyce Meredith + Walter " _Tom_ " Thomas Meredith (b.1933)

 **UNA MEREDITH + SHIRLEY BLYTHE (MARRIED IN 1921)**

Cecilia " _Cilia_ " Susan Blythe (b.1923)

Luna Rosemary Blythe (b.1925)

Nancy Faith Blythe (b.1930)

 **MARILLA "RILLA" BLYTHE + KENNETH "KEN" FORD (MARRIED IN 1919)**

Gilbert " _Gilly_ " Ken Ford (b.1920)

Blythe Owen Ford (b.1921)

Leslie Gertrude Ford (b.1923)

Owen Walter Ford (b.1925)

 **PERSIS FORD + LOUIS DECROUX (MARRIED IN 1921)**

Leslie " _Nellie_ " Rose Decroux (b.1925)

Alicia Mary Decroux + Iris Cecile Decroux (b.1932)

 **BRUCE MEREDITH + HANNAH BIRD (MARRIED IN 1937)**

May Camilla Meredith (b.1938)


	16. Christmas '41

**Chapter XV**

Julia's journey from London to Glen St. Mary was very long and Julia simply couldn't sit still. Her head was filled with uncountable questions, imagining the reunion with her family and Christmas at _home_. Home! She couldn't believe it at all! A smile couldn't come off her face and the twinkle in her eyes was noticeble by everyone who looked at her during her journey. She was radiating with happiness over the thought that she will spend two wonderful and long weeks in dear House on the Hill with her family by her side.

However Julia also felt a small feeling of guilt in her chest by getting a three weeks leave from the hospital. " _Maybe I should have stayed and help those poor men?_ " she questioned herself but then… " _Gosh, I can't wait to see everyone!_ " And with this thought she stepped off the train on the station in her own Glen St. Mary. The very first person to get Julia in her arms was Faith whose face was shining with joy and eyes filled up with tears of happiness.

" _My_ baby girl! _My_ darling!" she cried into Julia's ear. Julia's own eyes started filling up with tears and she started laughing, the way she always used to whenever she didn't want to allow tears flow down her cheeks.

"I'm home, Mother- _dear_!" Julia cried back and kissed Faith's red cheeks.

"You're really home, my sweet-pie!" Jem caught his eldest daughter in his arms and couldn't hide his watery eyes any longer.

"I am, Daddy." Julia replied softly and felt how another, smaller this time, person started hugging her from the side "Cee!" Julia gasped and kissed each of her sister's cheeks twice "How much you've grown!" she said. Cee clearly did grow. She was just a head shorter than her sister now, her face got more mature and eyes much more alive than the last time Julia has seen her.

"You did as well, Julia!" Cee exclaimed. Julia chuckled and suddenly stopped when she saw another two figures standing just behind her parents.

"Walt!" Julia threw her arms on her brother's neck and started screaming with joy "Walter Blythe! I can _see_ you!" she laughed.

"And I can _hear_ you!" Walt replied happily while kissing Julia's forehead. " _He didn't change one bit!_ " Julia thought " _But oh my, he's getting more and more handsome!"._ Julia turned her head to the person standing next to her brother. It was a young woman with pale and slender face, blue as the sea eyes and the loveliest smile Julia has ever seen. "You must be the famous Lily!" Julia said cheerfully.

"Yes, I am. And you must be the even more famous Julia!" Lily answered and gave Julia a warm hug.

"You finally met." Walt said while looking at his fiancee with adoration in his eyes.

"Eventually." Julia agreed and grabbed Cee's hand quickly "Are we going to the House on the Hill now?" she turned to her parents with crimson cheeks.

"No dear," Faith took her daughter's arm "We're all going to Ingleside. Everyone is waiting for you there." she grinned to Julia knowingly.

" _Another_ party?" Julia asked with a mischievous smile on her face "For me?"

"Yes, for you, you _dear_ thing." Jem said affectionately and kissed his oldest daughter's red cheek.

* * *

The minute Julia entered Ingleside, there was no end to shoutings, huggs, kisses and tears for the next ten minutes. Julia didn't even have time to take off her coat or a hat. Julia's guilt vanished completely with all the kisses she got firstly from her Grandmothers, and this guilt would not return any more into her soul. She thought that it wasn't happening. That it _couldn't_ possibly be true that she was surrounded by her family, not the whole family of course, but most of it.

Tears were coming down her cheeks like the small rivers and when she dryed them off she looked around at her cousins, aunts and uncles and noticed that something _clearly_ was missing "But where's _Blythe_?" she asked.

"He is… He's right _here_!" Leslie said with excitement when she looked out of the window of Ingleside's living room.

Julia turned around and looked out as well. There he was, Blythe Ford _running_ towards the front door with a small pakcage in his hands. Dear Blythe, with his black curls, pale face and grey gleaming eyes of a poet. Julia started breathing heavily. " _He got so much more mature and… so handsome!_ " Julia thought but would never dream to say it outloud although she _did_ have to bit her tongue. Julia ran to the front door and opened it with shaking hands " _Blythe_!" she gasped breathlessly and within one second she was in Blythe's strong arms.

Oh, how lovely he smelled! He smelled just like he always used to, of the old pages from books, and the warm fireplace of the House of Dreams. Goodness, and how tall he was! Julia had to tip toe to reach his neck. "It's you, Sheba… It's really _you_." he whispered and Julia could hear how he struggled not to let himself cry.

She chuckled "Blythe… You, _dearest_ of them all!" she put her hands on his cheeks and looked in his grey eyes with the deepest adoration "I can _see_ your face and _hear_ your voice and touch your cheeks, isn't that _wonderful_?" she asked him breathlessly again, her own eyes feeling wet again.

"It's certainly not more wonderful than for me to see _your_ face and hear _your_ voice and touch _your_ cheeks." he whispered back and put his package on the cupboard standing next to them. He put his own hands on her cheeks, laughing himself.

Julia let out a small laugh and looked at the package standing on the cupboard "What's that?" she pointed at the package, trying not to let her cheeks turn fiery from all the waves of hotness which were passing through her body.

"Oh!" he gapsed as if he just remembered something "That is my gift for you." he said and reached for the package which he quickly put into Julia's hands. She opened it up quickly, with hungry movements.

" _Oh_ , Blythe…" she said and put a hand on her mouth, not believing in what she was holding.

"I was saving for it for quite a while. I just knew that it should be yours." he said with his funny, very Blythe-like grin. In Julia's hands there was a very beautiful and dazzling silver necklace with a little shining rose on it. On the back of the rose two words were engraved: "Keep hope.". Julia didn't know what to say and Blythe knowing that, put the necklace on her neck, feeling very proud of making Julia speechless who as he knew wasn't a person prone to get speechless.

"Julia, dearest," Grandmother Blythe said and rushed towards her grandchildren with a smile crossing her delighted face "Do take off your coat and hat, I'm sure you must have forgotten that you are still wearing them!" she chuckled.

"I really did, Grandmother." Julia agreed and smiled at her. Then she took off her hat. The whole room went silent, for under Julia's hat there were no longer long red curls to her shoulders, but much shorter curls which were now touching her chin.

" _What_ did you do to your hair?" Rose gasped.

"Can't you see?" Julia giggled and touched her hair gently "I cut it because I thought I needed a change, and... besides it was becoming very annoying during my work." she said, glancing at Blythe so that he could give his opinion about it.

"I think it looks brilliant." Blythe said and patted Julia on the shoulder shyly.

And the whole room started chatting again.

* * *

The party was a big success. Julia talked, talked and talked with each member of her family. She even tried to talk to the little Jackie whom Rose was holding in her arms through the whole evening. "He looks just like you, Rose!" Julia said to her cousin, kissing Jackie's chubby hands.

Rose looked down on her bundle of joy and kissed Jackie's small forehead "Except for the eyes. He has _John's_ blue eyes." she said lovingly.

Julia got to know Lily and from the first sentence the two of them shared, they became bosom friends. Julia thought as if no one nor anything else changed. Her family was as big and loving as it always has been, the dear Ingleside was homey as always, Rainbow Valley was untouched by time and the new members of her family were simply new kindred spirits.

" _You_ 've changed." Julia said to Blythe when the two of them were taking a walk through the lovely and very snowy Rainbow Valley.

Blythe looked at Julia with a furrowed brow "Did I?" he asked her.

"Yes." she replied slowly "I don't really know how but I think you did."

"In a bad way?" he questioned with an almost worried look on his face.

"I don't think I can answer that." she looked in his eyes deeply, trying to think if she could _ever_ answer this question. Blythe was quieter, that was the only thing which was changed. And somehow, Julia thought, he got more shy than he has ever been. Somewhere deep under her skin she felt that Blythe wasn't telling her something, although she didn't quite know why wouldn't he tell her as they always shared their deepest of secrets. _Maybe he enlisted_ … Julia though but shook her head quickly, of course her family would know, _wouldn't_ they?

"You've changed as well." he said unexpectadly, squeezing her arm gently.

"Well… I did cut my hair." she chuckled quietly and so did Blythe.

"Yes, but not only in looks." he added and looked in her eyes again "That's something about your eyes that changed. But I think it's a good change. You're stronger than you were before." he said.

"Do you think so?" she asked him, a shodow of a grin appearing in the corner of her mouth.

"Yes, I do." he replied softly and put his arm around her shoulder on which she laid her head on.

"I sometimes see their faces, you know." she whispered suddenly "Or rather what was left of them. And I think to myself: "Why, oh why, freedom must be won in such pain and suffering?"." she sighed heavily.

Blythe kissed Julia's head tenderly. She shivered under his touch and just prayed that he didn't notice. She looked in his eyes again and almost immediately felt how the unpleasant thoughts were vanishing from her mind.

"Freedom is the best thing you can ever get in life. Freedom and love are almost equal I think. And for love, sometimes the biggest price must be paid." he said wisely, looking directly into Julia's hazel-brown eyes with a gleam in his own.

She smiled to him and quickly hugged him from the side "You are the only person I told this thing to." she whispered again.

"I feel very special then." he whispered back with a light grin.

"You really should." she said again and the both of them exchanged smiles "Because you _are_."

* * *

The Christmas Eve was the day after and afterwards everyone thought that it never happend because it went so fast. The Christmas Day however was as wonedrful as it alwyas has been for years in the old Ingleside. Julia was playing with little Jackie, who was smiling all the time, while talking with everyone else. Then she, as she promised Walt, sang both " _Winter Wonderland_ " and " _Silent Night, Holy Night_ " in duet with Rose, just like the two of them always udsed to do ever since the age of eight, when their family discovered that the two of them had the most beautiful voices in the family.

Julia couldn't get out of her Mother's and Father's arms and when they finally did let her out, once in a while of course, there was either Luna, Cilia, Leslie, or Cee awaiting her with _their_ empty arms. Walt saved most of his hugs for Lily and Julia didn't mind at all as she could plainly see in both of their eyes the passion and love for each other. Whenever she looked at them, the first feeling that was overcoming her was real happiness. However the second feeling was much different. It was jealousy. " _Why didn't I let myself love Blythe earlier?_ " she couldn't help but to question every single time Walt squeezed Lily's hand or kissed her whenever he thought that nobody was looking. Blythe wanted Julia to go with him and visit Cornelia the day after the Christmas Day but Julia refused, too hurriedly she realised later, saying that she "has to go and help Grandmothers with cleaning Ingleside", which was partialy true as she did go to Ingleside _but_ only to have another chat with her Grandparents.

For the next week, Julia didn't do anything else but smiling, taking walks with Walt and Lily, or Cilia, Luna or Leslie and sometimes Rose, and of course with Blythe. She even managed to take a few rides on River which she enjoyed so much that she started taking Cee with her and talking with her while galloping through the woods, in order not to "waste any more time" as she said to her parents.

Then, as quickly as it could, the New Years Eve arrived and a big party once again was held but this time at the House on the Hill. Everyone was up to see the clock striking midnight and everyone was dancing merrily for the next three hours. Even Jerry decided to dance with his wife, Nan, and therefore Blythe took Julia's hand swiftly and winked at her "The only person I'm ever going to dance with is you." he said and put his hand on her waist. And so Julia put her hand on his shoulder with a blush covering her face. It seemed that this blush was seen by everyone _except_ for Blythe himself.

"Five days to go." Julia whispered with a bitter grin appearing on her mouth.

"Would you rather stay here?" Blythe asked her, squeezeing her hand more toghtly, as if he was scared that she could suddenly disappear.

"No, I don't think so." she replied and chuckled "It's strange isn't it? I would rather go back to London and see those poor soldiers rather than stay here and see our wonderful Rainbow Valley every single day."

"You are so incredible, you know." he whispered with a tender smile "Are you afraid of going back at all?"

"Yes, but the thing is, when I'm here I don't feel that there's a war at all, even with Merry, Gil and Jake missing." she replied with a furrowed brow "But when I'm out _there_ , it's just a real big mess which is very overwhelming. And that is where I _really_ think about Merry, Gil, Jake and the war itself."

"I think I can understand that. But don't you worry, everything will turn out alright in the end." he said in a very optimistic way, coming back to his old-self.

"I know. I can feel it will whenever I see the soldier whom I cured to stand up from his bed for the first time. And I know that peace will come to the world again." she said and grinned.

"It will. And we will welcome it just like we welcome a new day." he whispered back.

* * *

On the next day, Walt went "to town" and he was expected to return the day after, already in his new uniform. Julia and Lily went to the shore together and spent that day on talking about books, music, and nursing for Lily was also, like Leslie, thinking about signing up as a VAD.

"That would be splendid if you and Leslie would join up and come to work in my hospital!" Julia exclaimed, taking Lily's hands in hers.

"I know, but I'm not sure if my parents will allow me to go. But I want to go _desperately._ You know… I want to be as close to Walt as I possibly can." Lily said with red cheeks, and she looked down to cover them.

"I know. That was one of the reasons I joined up as well." Julia replied with a quiet sigh.

"Hello girls!" Leslie shouted while walking hand-in-hand with Luna along the beach towards Julia and Lily who were sitting on the rocks.

"How are you today?" Julia asked with a smile, when the two of her cousins sat down by her side.

"I'm fine, thank you. Cilia is cooking all day with Mother today and I hope that her carrot cake won't be burnt after all." Luna laughed and so did her companions.

"And what about you, Leslie? You don't look very happy today." Julia noticed and put her hand on Leslie's knee, worryingly.

She sighed helplessly "How can I be happy when my brother is enlisting today?" she asked Julia slowly.

Julia's face went entirely white "Who do you mean by _your_ brother?" she asked feeling how her heart went almost completely still.

"Why, I mean Blythe of course!" Leslie replied "Didn't he tell you that he was going to enlist today with Walt?"

Julia stared at Leslie as if she was utterly crazy " _No_! He promised me a few weeks ago that he _won't_ enlist!" she said breathlessly.

All girls looked at her with concern in their eyes "He told us that he will, just after Christmas Eve." Leslie said once again and Julia realised that he must have told them while she and Rose went to wash up the dishes together.

"And no one bothered to tell me?" Julia exclaimed while putting her hand on her chest, trying to calm herself down.

"We all thought you knew, Sheba." Luna said shyly in her kind and gentle voice.

"Yes, I'm sorry girls." Julia responded quickly, catching her breath at once "I shouldn't shout at you. It's just a shock, I suppose…" she said and stood up slowly "If you'll excuse me, I'll be back in ten minutes." she said and ran towards the House on the Hill, her cheeks wet from tears running across them.

* * *

The next day, in the evening, Rilla invited Jem and his family over to the House of Dreams for tea. Julia, Leslie, Lily and Owen were talking together, but they all seemed as if they were somewhere else in their thoughts. Since the day before, Julia couldn't think of anything else except that Blythe didn't tell her that he will enlist. She was angry at him, oh, _how_ angry! Her cheeks were almost as red as her hair from this… _fury_ she felt. But at the same time, her heart broke into small, countless pieces and she knew that it will take some time before it could heal. She couldn't think properly and her thoughts were quite blank all afternoon, just like Blythe's siblings' thoughts were as they were now waiting for both Blythe and Walt to come back in their uniforms.

All of a sudden, Leslie looked out of the window and said in a terribly shaking voice: "They're back!" Everyone followed Leslie's example and looked out of the window. Rilla, Faith and Lily gave a small shriek, Jem and Ken looked at each other knowingly, Leslie and Owen held each other's hands and Julia... stormed out of the house, clenching her fists.

" _You_!" she shouted and made her way towards Blythe "You _liar_! You horrible, horrible _monster_! How could you lie to me?! How could you do this to _me_?!" she shouted and started hitting him in the chest, not caring whether she could damage his new uniform or not. Walter came over quickly and tried to stop Julia from hitting poor Blythe but she was definitely too strong and definitely too angry to even notice Walter trying to do anything. Blythe however, stood still with a peaceful expression on his face and was patiently waiting for Julia to stop. Her face grew red and her hair was in a total mess "Why, Blythe?! _Why_?!" she was screaming and all at once, she started to sob and her movements grew slower and slower until she stopped hitting Blythe completely.

"I'm so sorry, dearest." he whispered into her hair when he embraced her and let her cry in his chest "I had to, I just _had_ to." it was all he could say.

And to her own surprise she whispered back: "I know. I _know_."


	17. Moments Of Joy

**Chapter XVI**

" _So there we go, 1942! What will you bring us?_ " Julia wrote in her diary a day before her journey back to London.

" _This year,_ _I just hope for the peace in the world. That's all I ever ask God for in my prayers lately, I noticed…_

 _"Well, when it comes to concluding my three weeks' leave in my old Prince Edward Island, I think that I would describe it as very lovely and touching in every possible way. I know I will miss my family greatly but because I came here, I realised that they are all safe, here in Glen, and quite happy, not like people who live, for example, in London._

 _"I would come back to England with a light heart and an optimistic view on the future if Blythe and Walt wouldn't enlist._ Especially _Blythe, I must say, because I was prepared for Walt to go but_ not _for him. Walt joined the LFC however Blythe joined the RCAF like his brother, Gilly. Oh, my eyes turn watery whenever I think about it! I feel as if my heart will break into small pieces, too small to put them all together again._

 _"Blythe, Walt and I talked yesterday for about three hours and I could see that Walt isn't scared of going at all (which I'm very greatful for) and that Blythe seems very much more himself than he was when I came. He said that as soon as he joined up, he felt as if a huge stone which was on his heart for so long dissappeared completely and that he isn't as scared as he thought he would be._

 _"They are going to Toronto for training just two days after my departure tomorrow. And that's why I'm greatful for coming back; my work will give me no freedom to think about them the whole time._

 _"And with this I finish writing for today. I still have to pack up! Tomorrow is a new day, and I_ will _welcome it with open arms, no matter how hard things might turn out to be._ "

* * *

And so she did.

Julia's farewell with her family wasn't much different to the last one she had, two years earlier. Faith cried but smiled all the way through, her uncles and aunts kissed her with hopeful eyes, cousins had mixed feelings but wished her all the best in the world, her grandparents were loving and tender in every word they said to their granddaughter, Cee couldn't stop hugging her sister, Lily kissed Julia three times and told her that she hopes for seeing her in England, Walt and Julia shared a long embrace with serious expressions on their faces but parted with smiles.

Blythe however had tears in his grey eyes and this time, he wasn't even trying to hide them. Julia put her arms tightly around his neck and whispered: "I will always wear your necklace, no matter what will happen."

"I'm glad, that's why I bought it for you, to always remind you of "keeping hope" and faith." he whispered back "You'll be brave, Bathsheba, and I'll be brave for you, wherever I'll be."

Julia let out a small cry "And you'll be careful?" she had to ask.

"Yes, I will." he replied softly.

She looked in his eyes sternly "Don't you _dare_ not coming back, Blythe Ford!" she warned him, trying as hard as she could not to sob again.

"I would never disobey you." he answered with a wistful smile.

"All aboard!" the conductor's voice filled up the still air.

Julia stepped on the train, shouting "I love you" to her parents who were holding their hands tightly, while still holding Blythe's hand when the train started moving gently. "Walt!" she shouted fearfully and Walt grabbed her hand ever so quickly, revealing from the crowd "Please come back to us, you dear brother!" she said to him.

"I will, Julia, I _will_." he promised and crossed his heart like he and Julia always used to do when they were children.

"I love you _both_!" Julia whispered and chuckled nervously.

"And we love _you_ , Sheba." Blythe responded and for a second Julia thought that she saw this gleam in his eyes she was waiting to see ever since she came back to Glen. However as soon as she thought it appeared, it was gone.

Julia looked at her two friends who would join the horrors of the war very quickly, too quickly, she thought to herself. She looked at them, she wanted to remember their handsome faces, such youthful and optimistic faces! Such wonderful memories the three of them shared, and oh, so many secrets! That's when Julia realised how grown up they all were. Walt was twenty-two, Blythe twenty-one and Julia herself was twenty. They would still be in the souls of children if there wasn't any war around them. But there _was_ war, and each of them were in the very centre of it. Yes, Julia thought, we are not children anymore.

The train was moving faster and faster and their hands separated from each other, leaving Blythe and Walt together at the train station, waving to Julia eagerly. Julia waved back and for one second thought that she will jump off the train and run back, run back to her family and safety and home. But instead, when she couldn't see the station anymore, she took her suitcases in her hands and came inside.

* * *

 _Dear Mother, Father and Cee,_

 _My journey went much faster than I expected it to go. I was writing in my diary for the whole time while listening to the orchestra playing on the ship._ _Claire and Olive surpirsed me by coming to the Victoria Station to greet me and I really felt glad of coming back (although I had my doubts during those four days in travel, you must know)._ _Even Mrs Ashby welcomed me with a smile and a she said quietly, so that nobody apart from me could hear her: "It was very hard here without your high spirits, Nurse Blythe."_ _And so I came back to my old optimistic way of living, which is actually not so hard to come back to when I have Olive next to me, with a constant smile on her freckled face._

 _I got two short letters from Walt and Blythe today and I'm so relieved that they're trying to enjoy their training in Toronto._ _Blythe says that he really loved the first flying lesson he had but would never quite comapre it to the way the birds can fly._ _Don't worry Mother-dear, Walt will be as fine as Merry has been for the past three years, and I have a feeling that our boys-twins will meet up in the trenches after all._

 _Cee, your drawings are so detailed, it's hard to imagine that you are just eleven years old! You really should think about becoming an artist one day._

 _Daddy, as much as you want me to describe my work from the medical point of view, I won't describe it to you in this letter because I suppose that Mother and Cee don't want to hear about the "bloody business" as Olive and I call it and I simply don't have time to describe it in a separate letter! But I promise I will,_ one _day!_

 _I have to go now, my night-duty starts in half an hour and I still have to change into my uniform!_

 _The best of all the wishes,_

 _Your loving daughter and a sister,_

 _Nurse Julia Una Blythe_

* * *

"Merry and Jake are going to be moved to France next week." Julia declared in the middle of February just after finishing her night-duty.

"Do you know where exactly?" Claire asked while lying on her bed and watching the ceiling with tired eyes.

"No… I think they don't know themselves yet." she replied and sighed.

"And did you hear anything from Blythe or Walt?" Olive questioned and sat down by Julia on her bed.

"Yes, I did." Julia said slowly "Walt has just arrived in Paris and will be sent to the front in a few days time, and Blythe is flying over to Italy… _tomorrow_!" Julia sounded horrified by the every thought of it.

"Don't worry, Bath." Olive put her hand on Julia's shoulder "He'll be fine."

Julia simply nodded, trying not to let her imagination come over her mind.

"When do you think this war will end?" Claire asked suddenly.

"I don't know but I heard that because the Americans joined us in December, it should end by the end of the year." Olive replied with a smile on her face.

"I don't think it will." Claire said in her very "optimistic" way.

Julia rolled her eyes "Claire, do you allow yourself to hope and believe, once in a while?" she asked her with raised brows.

" _Oh_!" she said in a voice which didn't sound like her at all "Lewis asked me to _marry_ him!" Claire bursted out eventually.

Julia and Olive looked at each other with wide eyes "What did you just say?" Julia inquired in a low voice.

"He will be sent to the front in four days and he wants me to marry him tomorrow morning." she replied hurriedly as she stood up and looked at Julia and Olive with concern spread upon her face "What shall I do?" she asked helplessly.

"Well, um…" Olive started and looked at Julia for a second "I think that if you truly love him, then maybe you should go and marry him tomorrow." she said.

"Oh, I _do_ love him!" Claire exclaimed "But I always dreamed of having a big ceremony with white dress, my grandmama beside me, honeymoon in Italy…" she started but Julia interrupted her.

"Claire, the _war_ is happening!" she said passionately "You said yourself that you don't think it will end soon. So what is stopping you from marrying him? Who knows what will happen to him at the front?" she put her hands on Claire's shoulders "How I wish I could decide to marry Blythe tomorrow like you can decide to marry your Lewis." she whispered with sadness in her eyes, small tears slowly forming.

Claire kissed Julia's cheek "Do you think that Mrs Ashby would allow me to take a three days leave?"

"I suppose, we don't have as much work as we had before Christmas." Olive replied and before she finished the sentance, Claire stood up immediately and turned towards the door.

"Well then, I _will_ become Mrs Lewis Andrews tomorrow morning!" she said decidedly and made her way to Mrs Ashby's office.

* * *

On the next day, Claire became Lewis Anderson's wife in a quiet yet very beautiful ceremony. Julia and Olive were present at the ceremony and couldn't hide the tears of happiness coming to their eyes. Claire looked positively wonderful in her dark-blue dress with white collar and flowers in her hair. Lewis was certainly very proud and almost ecstatic after the priest called them a husband and wife.

Julia's eyes were shining and so were Olive's eyes. The two friends watched their Claire having one of the best days of her life. As Julia watched the ceremony, her heart was beating faster as her imagination was coming over her. She imagined her own wedding, and imagined how delightful it must feel to be a bride. Maybe at her own wedding, she will look at least half as beautiful as Claire did on _her_ wedding day? Julia imagined Blythe standing next to her at the altar, so tall and wearing a beautiful formal suit… There, her face went pale and she pushed the thought away, so that she could stop the dark thoughts from entering her mind.

After the ceremony, Julia and Olive came back to the hospital and went immediately to bed for they were starting their regular duty seven hours later. Whereas Claire and Lewis rented out a room in the hotel at Covent Garden and decided on spending their three-days-long honeymoon there.

"It is very romantic isn't it, Bath?" Olive asked Julia when both of them started dressing in their uniforms.

"The war wedding, you mean? Yes, it really is." Julia said dreamily "Especially when the newly weds really love each other."

"And Claire and Lewis _do_ love each other, I'm sure." Olive agreed and winked at Julia.

"Their eyes were twinkling with love today." Julia added and smiled at the memory.

"I would say _burning_ not twinkling." Olive chuckled and so did her friend.

"I wonder when _your_ war wedding with a mysterious officer or a captain will be." Julia joked looking at her companion with raised funny brows and Olive hit her in the arm but she laughed as well.

"Who knows, Julia." she replied "Who knows."

* * *

 _Dear Julia,_

 _I can't believe that Claire whom you described to me in details just two months ago, happened to be capable of such a romantic and sudden move! Well either ways, I would like you to tell her "Congartulations" from me._

 _It's been a week since I arrived in Italy and I can truly say that I have no idea where I've been today for I've been on a plane for the whole day, flying, I suppose, all over the place._ _I'm very glad that I chose joining up in the air force rather than the land army. I don't at least have to actually run up to a person and_ kill _them…_ _I hope that maybe I will meet Gil somewhere in the near future but I think that it's just my silly hoping._

 _You don't have to worry about me, dearest. For now, I am completely fine and I don't regret enlisting at all._ _Tell me more about you and how are you feeling in the dear London? Maybe one day, I will surprise you by landing on the top of your hospital's roof and suggesting on the fly over to Paris? How fun this would be?_

 _I have to go now, I feel as if my eyes will shut in any second._

 _Take care,_

 _Your cousin-pilot,_

 _Flying Officer Blythe Ford_

* * *

 _Dear sister,_

 _You won't believe in what I will tell you, but you really should because it's absolutely true: today my twin-brother Walt (I suppose_ you _know him) and I reunited after the long three years of not seeing each other._

 _Jake, Marshall and I were in the trenches together when we heard that the new men arrived and will join us soon. The three of us laughed at the newly arrivals because they all looked so frightened and pale compared to us who are tanned and not scared at all._ _And in a blink of an eye, I saw Walt's smiling face (as the only one who didn't look scared at all) and I couldn't believe my own eyes and for a second I thought it was someone different._ _But when Jake and Marshall shouted: "Walt?! Walt!" and this person came running to us, I knew it was him. Jules, I swear, I_ couldn't _be happier!_ _We hugged for at least ten minutes and I could feel the looks of other soldiers watching us but I didn't care._ _We cried together and then laughed together for the rest of the evening._

 _Now everyone, Walt as well, are asleep but I felt that I must write to you and tell you this happy miracle that happened to me._

 _Now that I did, I have to go and have a rest like all the others around me._

 _Goodnight dear sister o'mine,_

 _Your happy brother,_

 _Captain Meredith Blythe_


	18. News

**Chapter XVII**

April 1942 was a month in which three very different news were brought to Julia. Each of them gave her (and her family as well) a very different feeling and each of them will be remembered by her till the rest of her life.

In the first week of April, Julia, Olive and Claire were switched into the day-duty and by this time Julia was determined to take at least two days leave and explore London, and just take some good rest. With an exasperated look on her face, Mrs Ashby agreed on the idea and so Julia, Olive and Claire were strolling together down Kensington and Westminster for the whole two days.

"I will never believe that Germans _really_ wanted to destroy this beautiful place." Olive said on the last evening of their leave while walking down the Kensigton's Queen's Gate with her room-mates by her side.

Julia shook her head "Nor will I." she agreed "In my opinion Kensington is the nicest area in London, although I _do_ love the entire London so very much, even though it's been damaged so dreadfully during the Blitz." she sighed.

"I was born in Kensington, you know." Claire added, absent-mindedly.

"Really? You never mentioned this to us." Olive said with twinkling eyes.

"I never did because I don't remember living here." Claire continued "My parents and I lived here till I was two years old and then… well…" she gulped suddenly "They were killed in the car accident and my grandmama brought me back with her to Birmingham."

Julia and Olive looked at each other and then back at Claire. Oh, such a dreadful, horrible story! Poor Claire! Julia put an arm around her friend's shoulder and squeezed her hand, with a warm grin on her face. Claire grinned back.

"Would you like to live here again?" Julia asked her.

"Yes, it's so lovely and all the buildings are white and look very _royal_ to me." Claire smiled and looked at the houses around her.

"They _do_ look royal." Julia agreed and smiled dreamily "Would you, girls, like to live in a castle or a palace? Like the King?"

"Oh, _yes_!" both Olive and Claire said at the same time and the three girls laughed merrily.

"I think it would be so 'swell', like Michael used to say, to live in, for instance, the Buckingham Palace. And to feel so _rich_! And _important_!" Olive said and waved her hands theatrically.

Julia and Claire giggled "You know what?" Julia said "I wouldn't like to live in a castle or a palace."

"Why not?" Claire asked a bit surpised.

"I don't think I would feel comfortable in such a big house with servants and everything." she replied "Although it would feel good to know that you _are_ important."

"Talking about feeling important." Claire started and her cheeks flushed with red "My the most important person in the world, Lewis, has been moved to a position of a General." she said proudly.

"Well, congratulations to him!" Olive said enthusiastically.

"And what about your Merry, Julia?" Claire inquired "Did he get moved up again?"

"Yes, he will be announced Commandant Meredith Blythe next week." Julia said ardently "How exciting is that to have a brother as a Commandant?"

"Very, I agree." Olive said and smiled at her gently.

"Girls! It's half past _six_!" Claire exclaimed when she looked at her wrist-watch "We should be getting back!"

"Let's _run_ then!" Julia said and grabbed her friends' hands quickly and started to run and laugh, making the two other girls agree that Julia was and always will remain nothing else _but_ crazy.

* * *

 _Dear Julia,_

 _I have very exciting news to tell you and they're regarding my new location for the next month._ _I am in Toronto now and (surprise, surprise) I started my training for a VAD! Yes, I am signing up as a nurse and I will join you in your 'English adventure' in June._

 _Oh, Sheba I am so thrilled! Nervous as well, I'm not as bold as_ you _are after all, but still very very excited._ _Mother and Father don't mind at all although I could see regret in their eyes. After all, they will have just one of their four children left at home._ _Owen decided on not going to Redmond until next year. He wants to stay at home and be there for both of our parents. He is such a darling boy, my brother is!_

 _I don't suppose I have to describe to you things that I learn here in Toronto, you know them far too well yourself. I find it all very interesting, not as interesting as you always used to find it though. But I can't say I'm not scared of going... yes I am a coward, I know. I just hope that I won't freak out when I'll arrive in London. Silly me, of_ course _I won't; I'll have you, my dearest friend by my side!_

 _I'm looking forward to June and seeing you and meeting your Olive and Claire!_

 _I'm going back to my duties now!_

 _See you in early June,_

 _Love you always,_

 _Nurse-to-be Leslie Ford_

* * *

Julia was over the moon. She was so incredibly happy that Leslie would join up and come to her hospital. They were always very close and quite simmilar in their personalities although Leslie always seemed more scared of things and undecided than Julia was. Everyone in her family also agreed that Leslie's idea of going is very wise and brave, and no one actually worried much, especially because she would be in London with Julia. Either ways, Leslie was signed up to go overseas on 3rd of June.

In the middle of April, during Julia's day-duty, Mrs Ashby called her out in a surprisingly warm and worried voice: "Nurse Blythe! Could you have a second, please?"

Julia smiled at the soldier whom she was nursing "I'll be right back, sir. Could you wait a minute?" she asked him nicely, looking at his bandaged arm.

"Of course, Nurse." he replied with a small grin on his face which was covered in scars. Julia nodded at Olive knowingly who was helping a soldier on the next bed and went to Mrs Ashby's office. What does she want from me, Julia thought. Her mind was quite blank but her heart was telling her that something must have happened, it wasn't casual for Mrs Ashby to be so polite and nice.

"There is a telegram for you." Mrs Ashby said and handed Julia the small piece of paper "It just arrived."

Julia looked gravely at her Matron. She could feel how her heart was going up to her throat and for a moment she thought that she couldn't breathe at all. She looked down on the telegram and unfolded it quite slowly. She didn't know why but she read it outloud: " _Gil is wounded and missing. I still have hope and so should you. - Blythe Ford_ ". Julia felt as if the world around her started whirling around. She put her hand on her forehead and sat down on the nearest chair.

"Are you alright, Nurse Blythe?" Mrs Ashby asked and looked at Julia seriously with a furrowed brow.

"No, I'm most certainly _not_ , Matron." she replied breathlessly.

* * *

" _Gil is missing._ " Julia wrote down in her diary that night, knowing that she won't be able to sleep anyway " _He is wounded_ and _missing. I always thought that if news like that will arrive, I won't believe in them, but I do._

 _"Oh, God, I can't even think properly! I know that he is not announced dead but this is even worse! You don't know if he's dead or not. I think, although it will sound cruel, but I would rather know that he is dead than not to know anything at all… Now I realise how Mother and Grandmother Blythe and all the others felt like when they learnt that Father was missing in the First War._

 _"When will this nightmare end? When will this war end? This devastating war! Those poor men! I am able not to think about them, even after my duty, but I always pray for them, even for the German soldiers. I pray for their safety._

 _"These men who are all someone's brothers, sons, cousins, friends, sweethearts, husbands… This is just crazy! How could God allow war to happen? One nurse told me today that "war is a God's will and is needed". Needed for what? For what? For a heartbreak, death and pain? What is the aim of the war? What is it, God?_

 _"My wonderful cousin Gilly. My handsome, funny, clever and very loyal cousin. Such a brilliant swing-dancer and a perfect joker. Merry's best friend for better or worse and mine as well. He was always so alive to me, and now he is just…_ invisible _for me._

 _"I can't see his face properly tonight. I try so hard to picture him talking and recall his voice but I just can't. I look at his picture that stands on my night-table and I can't believe that this smiling face could have death written on it now..._

 _"I need to stop. I really do. Enough of this madness that overcame me. Enough of hate for war. Enough of death and pain and heartbreak._

 _"I will be strong for Gil, and not only for Gil but also for myself and my family. For Blythe, who knew exactly what to write in his telegram._

 _"Hope. Hope and once again hope. And that's what I'm going to stick to. For the rest of my life._ "

* * *

And Julia kept on hoping, and she was keeping strong. She even talked about her childhood memories about Gil with Olive and Claire. During the first two weeks, Julia's relationship with the Ford family got even stronger than it was before. Aunt Rilla and Uncle Ken were terrfied when they received the news about their oldest child but were "keeping faith" like Rilla quoted her brother Walter in one of her letters to Julia.

Owen and Leslie cried while writing letters to Julia and she thought that maybe Leslie won't come to England after all but Leslie said that she won't change her mind about _that._ " _After all,_ " she wrote to Julia " _Gilly can be found in your hospital again, like he once did._ " Blythe was truly unbreakable, and would never allow himself, and neither Julia for that matter, think that Gil was dead. He just knew that he wasn't. " _I can feel his spirit with me, Sheba._ " he wrote to Julia " _And this spirit is very alive, I assure you._ "

And so Julia kept hoping and keeping faith for the rest of the month until…

"Another letter from Blythe!" she said on the last day of April, just before the beginning of her duty. Olive and Claire went down to eat dinner in the canteen, but Julia wanted to read letters she got on this day, first of all.

" _Dear Julia,_ " she read it outloud.

" _I don't have much time because I'm flying over to Germany in ten minutes' time, but I need to tell you something quite important and this simply cannot wait to be told later on._ _No, it's not about Gil. But still I will repeat this in my every letter to you: don't worry about him, dearest friend o'mine._

" _This letter is about me and Cornelia._ " Julia stopped for a moment and gulped. Cornelia? What about Cornelia? Did Blythe broke up with her? Did he stop loving her, at last? Julia smiled and took a deep breath, and so she read on:

" _Ever since the news of my brother being wounded and missing, Cornelia was simply overfilling me with endless amount of letters about how worried she is about me being a pilot like Gil and at the front._ _And all of a sudden, in one of her latest letters she started asking me about if we are engaged or not. And I started thinking about it as well._

 _"I think I_ am _in love with her, Julia. And I thought that if it makes her feel any better, I will say that we are engaged if she wants it. And as you probably expect, she was enourmously happy about us being "Mr and Mrs Ford to-be"._ _We plan to get married after the war, of course so there's a long way before that. And I actually feel quite happy about how it all turned out._ _I told my parents about it by sending them a telegram, and they agreed and wrote: "We're happy as long as you're happy." and so I think that I'm making a right choice._

 _"I must go now, dearest._

 _"I'll write to you as soon as I'll be able to._

 _"Always Yours,_

 _"Flight Officer Blythe Ford_ " Julia finished in a sound of whisper.

Julia felt as if her heart truly broke this time, for good. She put the letter aside and looked at the floor absent-mindedly. Her thoughts and feelings were making her head burn. This is the end, she thought to herself, this is the end of my perfect dream which now I know will never come true. Tears started flowing down her face and although Julia tried to, she couldn't stop them at all.

She didn't even hear how Mrs Ashby came into the room, so quietly as if she knew that Julia shouldn't be disturbed "There's a long-distance call for you, Nurse Blythe." she said "Not bad news this time." she patted her shoulder gently.

"Who is it from?" Julia stood up immediately with her hands shaking while drying off the tears from her cheeks.

"Your brother, Commandant Meredith Blythe." Mrs Ashby answered and before she knew it, Julia was running to the telephone in her office.

" _Merry_!" she gasped when she reached the 'phone.

"Jules! You dear sister o'mine!" the fammiliar voice was heard in the telephone "We just have five minutes, you know."

"I know." Julia said with tears in her eyes "Is everyone alright?" she asked him worryingly.

"Of course. Don't worry about us, Sheb." Merry replied cheerfully "I called because I wanted to check if _you_ 're fine."

"Me?" Julia asked surprised.

"Yes, you." he answered "You see, we all met up with Blythe today, by accident of course, but we did and he told us that you don't sound as happy in your letters as you once did."

Julia gulped and tried her best to hold back her tears "Gil is wounded and mising." she replied with a trembling voice "And… and... Blythe is engaged…" she couldn't help but start sobbing again.

"Oh, I _do_ understand now." he said and Julia could imagine a smirk crossing his face "You are in love with him!"

"Yes, _unfortunately_ , I _am_ …" and Julia told him hurriedly the story of how she fell in love with Blythe and her worries and secret dreams which she couldn't tell him earlier because her heart wouldn't allow her to do it. It felt good, _so_ good to say everything to Merry. He and Julia never had any secrets between each other, everyone in their family always thought that Merry's twin should be Julia and not Walt. And so when Julia told her brother a story, she felt almost free again, she felt as if something which she should have done months ago, she did now and her heart was beating steadily again.

"Julia, listen to me." Merry said seriously "Gil will be fine, Blythe will be fine, Walt, Jake, Marshall and I will be all fine. You'll see. And _you_ 'll be fine as well. Blythe is a clever guy. I don't think he will marry this Cornelia of his and even if he will, this only means how stupid he is."

"Don't say that.." Julia started but was interrupted by Merry.

"Oh, yes I will." he said sternly "You are the best person in the whole world. And you are so beautiful in _every_ way. So be strong, faithful and hopeful, for me. Please, do this for _me_." he said and Julia knew that he was very honest and serious about it all.

She dryed off her tears again and grinned "I will do this for you, Merry! I will." she said with a hint of joy in her shaking voice.

"Shout it to the world, Jules!" Merry chuckled.

"I _will_ do this, Merry! I _will_!" she shouted and both of them laughed like in the old days.

"Good." he said and they heard some interruptions along the line "I have to go now, dear." he said quickly.

"I know. I love you, Merry." Julia replied and sent her brother a few kisses through the 'phone.

And he sent them back "And I love you, _Bathsheba_." and the line was hung up.

Julia put down the telephone and turned around. She took a deep breath, put on a smile and made her way towards the canteen in movements of an independent, decided and powerful young woman.


	19. Months Pass

**Chapter XVIII**

Leslie Ford arrived in the small hospital in London, in the early hours of 3rd June 1942, just as it was all planned. Julia and Leslie couldn't help not hugging each other till the rest of the day, especially when she learned that Mrs Ashby agreed on moving all the girls to a bigger, _four_ -bed bedroom with Leslie being their new room-mate.

To Julia's surprise, Leslie found more of a kindred spirit in Claire than she found in Olive. Both of them were almost unseperable after the week of Leslie's arrival. But Julia and Olive didn't mind at all and were even relieved that Claire finally had someone who understood her completely without asking any questions.

Leslie's first day as a nurse was a very tearful day. She was almost ready to pack up and come back to Canada because she didn't expect what she had seen that day in the hospital. However, she decided to stay after a very long talk with Julia on the side. And with every day, she was getting better and better and eventually was able not to think about all these "horribly poor men", after her duty, just like Julia, Olive and Claire were able to.

And because of having her cousin and one of her best friends by her side, Julia finally got back to her old self; the crazy, funny, decided, strong, brave and smiling Bathsheba who every single night dreamed about riding horses across the haunted woods during the moon's eclipse.

"Bathsheba, you got a letter from Cilia." Leslie said just after their duty when the post arrived.

Julia smiled and took the letter from Leslie's hand, written in the neat hand-writing of her cousin.

"I didn't hear much from Cilia lately." Julia said when she sat down on her bed and started opening up the envelope.

"The last time I've seen her, she was just fine, so I don't think you have to worry about her." Leslie replied and sat down by Claire who smiled at her friendly.

"I worry about Marshall every time I see her name on the envelope." Julia explained and sighed "She always talks about him and the letters she gets from him. She is very in love with him, you and I know it perfectly well."

"I know she is." Leslie agreed "I sometimes think that she can't think of anything else _but_ him." she giggled.

"Oh, Goodness!" Julia exclaimed and put her hand on her mouth while reading the letter in her hands.

"What?" Olive squeezed Julia's hand quickly "What happened?"

"Marshall's foot has been amputated…" Julia answered slowly as she was still reading the letter "And he's coming back to Canada in September!" she said in an excited tone and grinned at the girls surrounding her.

Leslie whooped "Oh, I know I shouldn't be happy becasue he had his foot amputated but…" she smiled "He's coming home to Cilia! She must be _so_ happy!" she said.

"She is more than happy. She is happily _blithe_!" Julia said and the four girls laughed joyfully.

"So they will probably be the next ones to marry." Leslie said dreamily, putting her arms around her knees.

"Maybe," Julia continued on reading "-she says that they won't marry until the next February because that's when Marshall will end his course for a doctor in Redmond."

"I thought he finished it before enlisting." Leslie admitted.

"No, he clearly didn't. But he doeasn't have much of this course left." Julia sighed "And I will miss another family wedding!"

"Oh, well!" Olive said and patted her friend on the shoulder "At least we know that _you_ certainly will be at your _own_ wedding." and with that Julia couldn't help but to start laughing with the rest of her friends.

* * *

One day, at the end of August, Julia, Olive, Claire and Leslie came down to the canteen for breakfast. In there, there was a very loud sound of chattering spreading across the room. Some of the nurses there had their faces painted with worry, others with excitement.

"Something must have happened, I'm _sure_." Claire said while eating her porridge.

"I'll go and fetch the newspaper." Leslie said and jumped up from her seat and she quickly dissapeared into the crowd. Julia's eyes followed her cousin, and she put down her toast on the plate, as she felt that she can't eat it anymore.

"Oh, I have a bad feeling in my stomach." Claire shivered.

Julia rolled her eyes and looked at Claire sternly "Claire, _please_ , if we would loose the war, there certainly would be much bigger excitement than this." she said but before Claire could answer her, Olive jumped from her seat.

"Oh! There she comes!" Olive said hurriedly and waved to the upcoming Leslie with a fresh newspaper in her hand.

"What happened then?" Julia asked her cousin who sat down while still reading nervously.

Leslie looked at Julia and all three girls could see fear and worry in her hazel eyes "Dieppe." was her simple reply.

"What's Dieppe?" Claire asked her with wide eyes.

"The Battle of Dieppe happened yesterday." Leslie said to them in a low voice "Along the British were our Canadian boys…" she gulped "From the Second Canadian Division."

Julia's face turned pale "Merry, Walt and Jake." she whispered and thought that it must have been some mistake.

"There were around 900 Canadians killed." Leslie added breathlessly as well.

"Oh _my_ God." Julia managed to say before covering her mouth, feeling that unless some news from France will come, she will get no rest from her emotions seething in her chest.

* * *

The news from France came and they were, ("thank Jesus, Mary and Joseph" as Julia said) very positive. Walt, Merry and Jake were in the battle but weren't wounded badly at all, except for " _some ridiculously small bruises_ " as Jake later wrote to Julia.

Although, Julia didn't know it until early September, Blythe was in the Dieppe Raid as well. " _I will never forget what I saw when I flew over no man's land in Dieppe after the raid._ " he wrote to Julia " _It was the most terryfying sight I have ever seen and I shall not, nor I want, to ever forget it._ ".

The summer '42 went so fast that neither of the girls even noticed it passing. The four of them got transferred into the night duty again and the autumn-days were even faster than those during the summer. There was still no news about Gilly or whether he was alive or not. Leslie started giving up hope, even though Julia was trying her best to stop her from doing that. Julia's brothers along with her cousin Jake, were quite safe in the trenches, being still in France. Blythe finally got moved up to a position of Flight Lieutenant. " _It's nothing really._ " he wrote in the early days of October " _I don't even feel I deserve such an honor like this._ " But Julia and everyone else knew that he truly did deserve it, "and even more" Julia thought however she didn't allow herself to say it outloud.

One day, Julia came back to her room from the canteen with a very enthusiastic expression on her face which made all the other girls look at her in a strange yet curious way "Are you alright, Bath?" Olive was the first to ask.

"I accidentally overheard the two nurses talking to each other," Julia started with a smile crossing her face as she was taking her seat next to Leslie "-and they were talking about going "into the action on the continent"!" she clasped her hands together and her cheeks turned red from excitement.

"And?" Claire inquired.

"And? _And_?" Julia repeated and stood up again "And I learned that I will be able to go "on the continent" in just one year's time!" she squeaked.

Olive's eyes started to shine and she stood up to catch Julia's hands in her own "And this means so can _I_!" and the two girls gave each other a 'high-five'.

Claire rolled her eyes and sighed "Why are you so excited about it anyways?" she asked them.

"Oh, _Claire_!" Julia exclaimed and sat down by her friend "How can I not be? To serve for your country in a way like our boys do?"

"You can't go to the front with a gun on your back, Jules." Leslie pointed out and Claire nodded in agreement.

"I don't mean it in _that_ way and you know exactly what I'm talking about, Leslie _Gertrude_ Ford!" Julia said in an annoyed voice "What I mean is that we, women, can go to the front and help soldiers there besides, I'm sure that there is a difference between the soldiers here and the soldiers in for example, Italy or France." she explained.

"It must be." Olive agreed eagerly "We only get men who are very much injured but have the possibility to get better because they survived the journey from the _front_ to here." she said.

"Exactly." Julia added "And that is why it makes me so excited. You just have to serve as a VAD for three years to join in the army as a nurse. And I'm going to do just that." she said and put her hands on her hips in a funny way.

"I wouldn't imagine you doing anything else." Leslie replied with a grin.

* * *

And unexpectadly and even a bit surprisingly, Christmas and New Year came as quickly as no one could ever imagine them to come. Olive and Claire got their leaves for Christmas and they came home to Surrey and Birmingham, leaving Julia and Leslie by themselves. Julia was very jolly during the Christmas time in 1942, however her cousin Leslie appeared to be very homesick and fearful of what future might bring to them.

"Evil won't win, Les." Julia assured her while cuddling up Leslie in her arms on the Christmas Day.

"I know." she agreed quietly "But _what_ is evil? Is it really _just_ Hitler?" she questioned and both of the girls fell silent again.

But they did spend a happy time together. There was a very homely Christams dinner with all the staff from the hospital and the soldiers. There was even dancing and singing carols together, which Julia, obviously, enjoyed more than anything else.

" _I can't believe it's been a year since I've seen my parents, Cee, you and everyone else._ " Julia wrote to Blythe a day before New Year's Eve " _This year was the quickest one of my entire life. I don't know why but I really don't feel like a twenty-year-old woman. But to be honest when I think of it know, I don't feel like a child, teenager or a woman too. I just feel like_ myself _and actually I prefer this to anything else._

 _"Do you remember the one time when I was six and you were seven, and we both went to our Rainbow Valley and pretended to be soldiers? Doesn't it make you feel weird, I mean that now, almost fifteen years later, we are both at war, and you are a_ real _soldier?_

 _"Oh, Blythe how much would I give to see peace in the world again! And to end this horrible waiting! Waiting for you, my boys, to come back to us alive and safe… and even waiting for myself, to come back to the old P.E.I!_ _I'm whining like a child, I know. I will stop now._

 _"Blythe, how is it that you, the most fearful one of us, is the most faithful at the same time?_ _I don't think I would be able to survive this war without your letters, you know. They always give my heart the feeling you get when you smell a new perfume, that nice feeling which overcomes you completely and makes you smile._ _How do you do that?_

" _I suppose that, again like our dear Uncle Walter, I'm more afraid of my imagination than of the reality."_ he wrote back in the early days of January 1943 " _And you must know Sheba, that even though I can hide it very easily, I am scared, very at times, but when these moments of horror come, I just manage not to think about them._

 _"I always admired you for your incredible bravery in everything you always do. No, no don't argue with me (I know that you are right now). And I am so happy to finally hear or rather read that you are your old self again!_ "

" _And I always will be nothing else but Bathsheba, I promise you._ " Julia wrote him back with a smile crossing her face when she put down her pen on the table.

* * *

 _Dear Julia,_

 _I have the most wonderful news to tell you; I married Marshall Douglas last weekend. Our wedding was so sudden because Marshall got a job as a surgeon in Charlotettown and he was needed there at once._ _It was a very quiet ceremony. There was just our family and his, no family friends of any sort. We had a small party afterwards and then Marshall and I caught the evening train to Charlotettown._

 _Our new house is very small but cosy as well. I won't describe it to you, you know that I was never as good in describing things as Blythe or you always are._ _Oh, dearest, you can't even imagine how happy I am in this very moment! With the war going on around me, I feel almost perfectly happy. With my Marshall (my_ husband _!) by my side in our little sweet "Blue House" as we call it._

 _He didn't change at all, you know. And to be honest I don't even think about his missing foot, although he is quite concerned about it, sometimes. My Marshall is still there, even though there is a dark scar coming down his right hand._

 _I even thank God for taking this foot of his; it brought him safetly home to me and now, to his new wife._

 _I just wish, dear Bathsheba, that one day you will be half as happy as I am right now._

 _Your friend,_

 _Cecilia Douglas_


	20. Arrival And Departure

**Chapter XIX**

The new wave of soldiers arrived in the middle of February. Julia and all the other nurses were very busy again (not that they had days when there was no work) and Julia actually didn't mind at all, although she was enourmously exhausted by the amount of work she was doing for the past three years already. She knew that her mind was occupied and therefore she wasn't allowed to think of anything else but doing in what she was best: helping others.

Leslie got used to work as a nurse as well as Walt's Lily who signed up as a VAD at the beginning of the year. Lily seemed to "really like it", mostly because she was close to her fiancee. Julia was quite disappointed that Lily didn't go to work in her hospital in London and went to Basingstoke instead, but as Lily assured her in her letter: " _Your Matron wrote me that your hospital is fully equipped with both people and equipment for medical uses._ ". And to her surprise, Julia could really believe _that_.

Olive, Claire, Leslie and Julia were during their night-duty and each of them were working in four different parts of the hospital, simply whirled into work. Julia was running up and down the hall with bandages and morphine in her hands, hardly being able to see or hear that some of the soldiers that arrived were Canadians. Suddenly, just after hearing the distant sound of shouting, Julia saw and more importantly _heard_ her cousin running, or maybe even flying towards her with perfectly red and wet face "Julia! _He_ 's found! _He's found_!" she was shouting and threw her arms on Julia.

"Leslie, you don't mean Gilly, do you?" she replied hurriedly and then under seeing her friend's shining eyes, she gasped breathlessly " _Do_ you? Oh my Goodness!" she shouted. She turned her head quickly to a soldier lying on the bed next to her.

"You go, Sister. I'll wait for you." the man said joyfully and one second later he could see the two happy nurses running together to the next block.

"Is he alright?" Julia asked Leslie when they opened the door of the main hall.

"A bullet was found in his thigh, but other than that, he seems fine." Leslie replied in a very high-pitched voice.

Julia laughed cheerfully and thought that after all, God was still there and was watching after her boys.

* * *

Flying Officer Gilbert Ford, was quite badly wounded in his thigh and had to stay in the hospital for the next four months. Julia, Leslie and their family were crying with joy which was quickly spreading across their faces and some of the spark of the old days from before the war came back into their lives. Blythe teased Julia in his next letter. He wrote: " _I will say something very overrated and not new at all but there you go: told you! Didn't I tell you he is safe and sound? Didn't I?_ ".

But the remaining question was, why did Gil get wounded and missing? Gilly explained it all to the girls the day after he was found in the hospital: "My plane crushed into the woods of the unknown land somewhere, I presume, in Italy. From the group of five pilot-men in our cabin, only me and the other officer, Frank Harolds, survived the landing.

"We got out of the airplane and we started looking for any kind of camp which belonged to the British. However quickly before we got out of the plane, four Germans found us while patrolling the woods. They recognised us by our uniforms and we started running away as quickly as we could. Unfortunately they had guns and _we_ didn't. That's why my thigh is in the condition as it is now.

"After they shot me in the thigh and Frank in the arm, they took us to their camp and we stayed there as their prisoners for this whole time. They didn't beat us or anything, thank Goodness, we just had to stay in our cell. My biggest problem during this time was that I couldn't do anything with my thigh and that Frank was in the other cell and we couldn't communicate in any way.

"We escaped one week ago, when the British won over the Germans and took over their camp. They found us and immediately sent us here for the recovery."

"And here you are." Leslie hugged her brother's arm tenderly.

"And here I am." he agreed and squeezed her hand "With you my girls." and he smiled at both Julia and Leslie. And then the three of them cried together for the rest of the afternoon.

One night in April, Julia and Leslie found Gilly talking in a very passionate way with the other nurse. A very pretty, dark-haired nurse. Julia and Leslie later on would find out that her name was Faye Williams. Leslie's eyes filled up with anger and she made a step forwards in order to go and ask the nurse for some privacy with her long-lost brother. However Julia stopped her by grabbing her arm "Leslie, leave them." she said to her cousin gently.

"But why can _she_ talk with my brother and _I_ can't?" she hissed "With my brother whom I almost thought was dead? Why would I leave them? _Alone_?".

"Because…" Julia started and turned her friend around to face them "-they are in love." and she smiled gladly. Leslie humphed angrily and came back to their room, clenching her fists like a little girl. Julia rolled her eyes. She took one last glance at her cousin and the mysterious nurse, then turned around and she hopped back to their room as well.

* * *

And so, Flight Officer Gilbert Ford, returned to the front at the beggining of June, being kissed from head to toe by not two but _three_ girls whom he loved.

Leslie got used to the idea of Gilly having a sweetheart because as it turned out, Faye Williams was a very nice nineteen-year old British nurse. She was very polite and quiet and it was even hard to believe that the loud and funny Gil was interested in her. But he was, and he told so Leslie and Julia: "And as quiet and shy as she is, she entered my life quietly without making any sound, and she will remain in it till the very end."

There was never a chance for either Julia or Leslie to get to know more of Faye because she was moved to a different hospital in the south of London. However Julia had a feeling that she will see her again, though not in England but in her very own Glen. One day.

* * *

 _Dear Sheba,_

 _I feel very proud of you again, that you decided to sign up as a military nurse and go "into the continent" after the summer._ _I won't say that I'm not worried because I am; who knows what kind of things will welcome you there? But I feel glad because I know that you want to do it, and I'm especially glad that you will go there with this Olive of yours._

 _This is really ridiculous how quickly time flies when you are whirled up in war. Can you believe it's June 1943 already? I can't. I am twenty-two years old and I'm a Flight Lieutenant! Who would have thought, back six years ago, what would become of me in the end?_

 _But enough talking about time. The more important thing is that, as you were probably informed earlier like me, with the telegram, that my brother, Owen, enlisted to the navy._ _I am quite shocked to be honest, because he was always so against violence, a bit like me, and very very shy._ _He wrote me that he felt it was also his duty and with all his siblings overseas doing something for the war, he didn't want to be left out. And so he chose the navy and said that he will go for his training in August and to the front in late September._

 _I pray for him greatly because I know how scared he is. We were always so close, much closer than I ever was with Gilly. Owen and I just know each other in our own way, and most importantly we_ understand _each other's souls._ _I can't believe that my every boy-cousin and all of my brothers are now in the army. It's quite a scary thought actually, but I believe that everything happens for a reason and therefore now the only thing left for us to do is to "Keep Calm and Carry On" as the British say now._

 _I'm sending you another great pile of my new and very rushed poems I wrote on my knees in the pilot's cabin a week ago. I hope that you will like them._ _Now, I'll stop talking about the war._

 _Yesterday I got a photograph from our darling cousin Rose. She was standing outside the manse with Aunt Nan and Uncle Jerry and the little Jackie was_ standing _in the very middle._ _Can you believe how quickly he grew up? He's almost two years old! He is the very picture of Rose though (except for the eyes of course). I'm sure that one day he will be a heart-breaker._

 _Tell me dearest, can you send me the newest photograph of yourself? I'm getting two photographs from Leslie every single month and I can't remember when was the last time I got yours._

 _I'll have to go now, we're flying over to France tomorrow morning._

 _Sweet dreams,_

 _Flight Lieutenant Blythe Ford_

* * *

"Look at my baby brother, Sheba!" Leslie gasped and showed Julia the photograph of no one else but Owen Ford in his new navy uniform.

It was almost the end of summer and therefore the last week before Julia's and Olive's departure to the France's front. All four girls were sitting in the circle on the floor while reading out the letters from their families and drinking lemonade.

"Is that Owen?" Julia asked in disbelief when she took the picture in her hands and looked at it closely "He looks _so_ mature! And grown-up!"

"Well, he's eighteen after all." Leslie said "And with every year he looks more and more like our Grandfather Blythe." she sighed happily.

"Yes, he does." Julia agreed with a smile "Excpet for his hair. It's as dark as your Dad's."

"That's true." Leslie admitted "I can't believe that he still didn't get himself a girlfriend!" she exclaimed.

Julia looked at her cautiously "He still has time, you know." she said eventually.

"And do _you_ have a boyfriend, Leslie?" Olive asked looking knowingly at Julia who was doing her best not to giggle.

"No," Leslie's cheeks turned red "But when _I_ was eighteen…" she started.

"Which was _just_ two years ago…" Julia added with a smirk on her face.

"… I already had _three_ boyfriends." Leslie finished and took a sip of lemonade from her glass.

Julia and Olive rolled their eyes and chuckled together.

"Have you started packing up yet, Julia?" Claire asked her friend, trying to change the subject.

Julia laughed "Of course _not_!" she said "I always pack at the very last minute."

"That's true." Leslie said and poked Julia in the arm.

"I can't believe both of you will leave us…" Claire said suddenly with sadness in her eyes.

Julia smiled sympathetically "I know, dear Claire." she put a hand on Claire's shoulder "But it's not as if we were leaving you forever." she said.

"Well, certainly not when it comes to you and Leslie." Clare replied "You two are cousins and both live in Canada and will meet there probably, after the war. And when it comes to _me_ , I don't know when I shall see _you_ again." she said and her eyes turned watery.

Julia was quite surprised by Claire's reaction but she also felt very moved and her own eyes started filling up with tears "We _will_ see each other again, you'll see." she replied with a forced grin on her face.

"I think I might cry!" Olive said in a dramatic voice and she threw her arms on Julia and Claire. Leslie followed Olive's example and so the four girls spent the rest of the afternoon hugging each other and making promises, which only time would show whether they would be fulfilled.


	21. France

**Chapter XX**

On the first day of September 1943, Olive and Julia said their farewells to Leslie and Claire at the crowded, as always, King's Cross station and left for whereabouts of Rouen, France. A day before their leaving, they both got their new khaki uniforms, with white collars and brown gloves which made them look very formal and _important_. When Julia put on her uniform with a small hat on, she beamed with pride by the thought of what she was just about to do for her country and, most importantly, for the peace in the world.

Their journey from London to Rouen took one long day because of the constant use of the Canal la Manche, but both girls didn't mind at all as the weather was very warm, almost too hot for a normal September day and besides, one calm day did both of them good.

"Are you scared, Olive?" Julia asked when they finally got on the ferry which was supposed to take them to the port in Calais.

"No, not now at least." Olive responded "I think I'm more scared of what we're going to _see_ when it comes to how the soldiers there will look like, rather than scared of bombing or anything like that." she shook her head slowly.

Julia nodded "Yes, I think I feel the same way." she said "But at the same time I'm really happy that I'm going to Rouen and I will be able to help more soldiers." she smiled at the white cliffs in Dover which were still seen on the horizon in front of them. It almost seemed as if the air around them was bringing the sweet song with it, and that the peacefulness of that place could never be changed, not even by war.

Olive smiled at Julia and put her hand in hers " _There'll be bluebirds over_ …" she started singing one of her favourite songs in her pretty voice.

Julia joined in with a smile on her face "… _t_ _he white cliffs of Dover! Tomorrow,_ just _you wait and see!_ " and they both sang it in confident and hopeful voices until the cliffs in Dover vanished from their sights completely.

* * *

When Julia and Olive started their drive in the van with the other nurses towards their camp in Rouen, it was already after midnight and the stars were spread over the pitch-black sky. Everybody was asleep except for Julia whose eyes wouldn't close at all.

She was closely observing the stars on the sky and the road forming in front of her. She was thinking about her brothers and her cousin being on the same land as she was on in this very moment, and about Owen who was near finishing his training for a navy officer and soon to be sent in the centre of the Battle of the Atlantic.

 _"It's very weird,"_ she thought and later would write down in her diary, "- _that even though there's so much pain, heartbreak, death and sorrow spread all over the world, the stars are still shining above us, and their gleam is as radiating as ever."._

She also thought about Blythe and Gilly, her own bosom friends and cousins, flying somewhere between the clouds… But her thinking stopped there. She suddenly noticed the rays of lightnings appearing and disappearing on the sky, just above the woods. Then followed the sound of distant guns and Julia could almost swear, shoutings.

She gasped and jumped on her seat, making Olive, whose head was resting on her shoulder, to wake up and look at her questioningly "What happened?" she whisperd sleepily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you up." Julia apologised quickly and tried to smile at her friend but her fearful eyes betrayed her.

"Don't apologise, Bath." she whispered back and sat up straight "What happened…?" she started but before Julia could answer the sounds of guns filled up the air around them again and Olive understood immediately. They both looked at each other and without a word, they put their hands together in a tight grasp, and looked at the lights in front of them, feeling nothing else but fear.

* * *

 _Dearest Mother, Father and Cee,_

 _I just finished my second day at work in Rouen and now I'm going to describe it all to you, just like I promised._

 _Our camp is not actually in Rouen, it's in its zone but not actually in the city, like most of us thought it would be. I would describe its location as being in the fields, somewhere between first forest and the second forest. It's quite near to the front, but please don't worry, like Leslie said to me just before I left her: "You're not going to the front with a gun on your back, Jules."_

 _Our camp consists only of tents, triangle and square shaped. Our own tent (where all the nurses sleep) is square-shaped and is quite big. There are around twenty beds in here, two of them are mine and Olive's. I must say that I don't actually mind our living conditions except for the bugs (sorry dear Uncle Carl!), because it's just too many of them._

 _Our new Matron, Mrs Tate, is a much nicer person than Mrs Ashby, although she still has some sparks of grumpiness in her eyes and she is quite strict._

 _Although there are lots of nurses my age here, I don't really feel a connection to any of them except for the one girl who reminds me greatly of Cilia. The shy yet very nice girl is called Amelia Dallas (who is Australian) and she sleeps in a bed next to mine. Amelia, Olive and I talk together at the end of each day, listening to my portable radio, and avoiding all of the war news._

 _But coming back to my first day at work; well, it was very tiring for sure. And, although I don't want to say it, I must; it was very emotional._ _My hours of work are the same like they were in London and so now I'm working on a day-duty (6am till 6pm)._ _I'm working in the "newly arrived" ward and therefore the sights I see everyday are truly the worst of all._ _If Leslie thinks that the men whom we nursed in London looked bad, then I don't know what she would say about those here. The poor_ poor _men!_

 _I don't want to describe in lots of details what I saw yesterday and today, but I will make it quite simple and straight forward: men's faces covered in blood and horrible burns, men's feet and arms almost ripped to its bones and every possible part of their body covered in scars and bruises in all of the possible colours you can imagine._ _I think I don't have to tell you that I was very shocked at first and that my brain stopped working for around five minutes after starting my work yesterday._ _But I got back to myself quickly and started working at full capacity._

 _I don't know how many soldiers I nursed today. I tried counting them but when I got to sixteen, I completely lost it._ _I think that I did quite well especially because Mrs Tate came up to me after my working hours and shaked my hand, saying: "I've never seen a nurse who works with such passion like you did today." she said to me and in that moment, I really felt proud of myself._

 _I must go now, Mrs Tate informed us that we have to turn our lights off in five minutes because it's almost ten o'clock._

 _I'm sending you the picture Leslie took of me and Olive in our new uniforms. Don't we look very mature (believe me we're not really)?_

 _Your loving daughter and a sister,_

 _Nurse Julia Una Blythe_

* * *

And so September passed, being the month fulfilled with work not only for Julia but also for all the other nurses in their camp as well. Amelia Dallas became Julia's another kindred spirit, and so her 'little triangle' with her, Amelia and Olive was filled up again.

Gilly was moved up to the position of a Flight Officer and was somewhere in Italy, wheras his brother Blythe was somewhere in Sicily. Owen already made his way to the front and was fighting as one of the navy officers in the Battle of the Atlantic, so bravely it was almost impossible to think that Owen was still a shy and a modest boy he always had been.

Julia thought that Walt, Merry and Jake were safe in the trenches, until she received a short telegram from Merry, on one warm afternoon in the first week of October which said: " _Walt is wounded in the leg. They're sending him to England for treatment._ ". Julia's heart went still and her face turned pale. Olive just came back to their 'tent-home', as she called it, chattering with Amelia by her side as she saw Julia staring absently at the peace of paper in her hands.

"Bath? Are you alright?" Olive sat down by her side and put a hand on her shoulder with worry in her eyes.

"Walt has been wounded." she whispered back still looking at the telegram in her hands "And he is sent for recovery to England." her voice cracked in the middle and Olive quickly embraced her.

Amelia sat by their side and put her small white hand on Julia's back "It means that he will be alright, Julia." she said softly.

"Exactly." Olive added "Why are you so worried if you know he will recover?" she asked her and made Julia to look at her.

"Because the telegram said that he has been wounded in his _leg_." she replied slowly "And you know exactly that this, plus that he is being sent to England, probably means an operation or…or… an _amputatation_." she said the last word gravely. Olive sighed sadly and hugged Julia once again, allowing her to cry on her shoulder.

* * *

Unfortunately for Walt, it meant the amputation of his leg. He wrote a letter to his sister from the hospital in Basingstoke in which he explained that he had been shot twice in the leg straight into its nerve and the operation wouldn't do him any better. Thankfully though, by a pure accident, he was transferred into the hopsital where his Lily worked and so he wasn't alone through it all. " _It's because of her I don't feel any sadness or regret now._ " he wrote to Julia in the middle of October " _I lost my left leg but she still loves me and that's what matters the most to me._ "

"And he's coming home in late November!" Julia exclaimed while reading out his letter to Olive and Amelia sitting next to her.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Amelia grinned with her shining blue eyes.

"I told you that he would be fine!" Olive said and winked to Julia who smiled at her.

"But he also writes that he will _marry_ Lily before they will come back to P.E.I.!" Julia gasped and put a hand on her mouth in surprise. Olive's eyes went wide and Amelia giggled lightly at their reaction.

"Why won't they wait till coming back to Canada?" Olive asked after the moment of silence.

"He says that," Julia started slowly "-Lily doesn't want a big family wedding and " _besides we are already in Europe for our honeymoon_ "." Julia humphed and laughed "I would never suspect my brother Walter for anything of _that_ kind!".

"Now, I am most certainly _sure_ that your family is nothing else but the best material for a book." Olive said in a decided tone, and laughter filled up the room again.

* * *

 _Dearest sister,_

 _Lily and I are happily married now and believe me it has been the loveliest 24 hours of my life so far._ _Don't worry, I sent a telegram to our parents and Lily sent one to hers. Mother wrote that she is very happy for us but wishes that we got married at home, however Dad completely understands why we did it that way and is very very happy._

 _Now, we are on our way to the lovely London which I still have to discover for myself. I am determined to meet up with our Leslie one day._ _We will stay there for two weeks and then we will go back to Glen, just a month before the Christmas Day._

 _Sheba, I don't even think about my missing leg, you know. It was bothering me just after the amputation but now I'm completely alright with the idea, except that I really want to dance with my new_ wife _, and that is not recomended at all, in my state._

 _Anyway, the next stop is King's Cross and so I think that I'll leave it there._

 _Be careful out there_ _in Rouen, and remember that I'm still and always will be, no one else but your loving brother._

 _Walter Blythe_


	22. A Night To Remember

**Chapter XXI**

December 1943 arrived and everyone welcomed it gladly, with hope in their hearts that maybe with this December, as the final month of 1943 and the New Year coming after it, the peace will once again inhabit the surface of the Earth. Following the Italy's declaration of the war on Germany in September, everyone's hearts started pounding faster and more optimistically towards the new year of 1944.

Julia was switched into the "recovery" ward and she found it much more relaxing as her main tasks were generally to talk with the soldiers, brighten up their day and check on their wounds, rather than taking care of newly arrived soldiers with many bleeding and opened wounds.

"Your last patient today to check on," Mrs Tate said to Julia on one cold evening just before the end of Julia's duty "Is Mr Niall Harris, on bed number 11." Julia nodded at her and made her way through the corridor.

The man lying on the bed number 11 turned out to be quite a young, good-looking man with fine silky blonde hair, big forehead and very blue eyes, so deep Julia thought she could almost drown in them. And it took just a single smile for her to realize that she is about to meet another kindred spirit. "Hello there, Mr Harris." Julia said and smiled at him, while taking in hand his medical record attached to his bed "How is your leg doing?"

"Still paralyzed, I think." he replied with a sigh. Julia was almost shocked by how simmilar his voice sounded to the voice once belonging to Troy Rogers, but she left the gloomy thought about her long-dead fiancee aside and concentrated on Mr Niall Harris' deep blue eyes instead.

"Just give it a few days, Mr…" she began but was interrupted by Mr Harris.

"Please call me Niall." he said and pointed at the chair next to him "I feel very old when people call me that."

Julia grinned at him warmly and sat down on the offered chair "Alright, _Niall_. But you also must call me Julia then." she answered and clasped her hands together "Or Bathsheba, or Sheba or just Bath; that's how my friends call me."

Niall chuckled quietly "There's a lot of choice for me then." he said.

"That's quite true." she agreed and smiled again "Tell me, Niall, what happened to your leg? If you don't mind me asking, of course." she said to him affably.

"There was an explosion of a shell in no man's land, somewhere near Dieppe, where I was serving in the trenches." he replied in a matter-of-fact tone "And the doctor said that, because of how I landed after it threw me into the air, I won't be able to feel my leg for about two weeks and then I will have to learn how to walk again, after starting feeling it again." he shrugged then and smiled reassuringly at his companion "Don't you worry, Julia. I'm not the kind of a man who would be devastated by something like this."

Julia grinned "That's good. Because I don't like the 'mummy's boys'." she said and the both of them laughed merrily.

"You're not British, are you?" he asked her suddenly.

"No, I'm Canadian." she replied with pride in her voice "I was born on Prince Edward Island."

Niall's eyes widened in surprise "That's where my grandparents from my mother's side live!" he said cheerfully.

"So it makes you half-Canadian then!" Julia exclaimed excitedly and Niall nodded with just as much enthusiasm.

"Yes, my mum was born there and in the First War she served as a VAD in London's hospital, she met my Dad there, she moved to London after the war. They married of course and have lived there ever since." he explained.

"Oh, that sounds like quite a romantic story." Julia answered with a funny grin on her face.

"It really is." he agreed "Dad loves to talk about it." he chuckled.

"And do _you_ have your own romantic story to tell?" Julia asked mischievously.

"No, I'm as free as a bird!" Niall laughed and so did Julia "But what about you, _Miss_ Julia...?" he asked her.

"Blythe. Julia Blythe." she replied with a smile "And, it's quite a complicated and a very long story when it comes to me _and_ love." Julia said feeling how her cheeks turn red under the sudden wave of hotness flowing across her body.

"I'm sure you will tell me one day." he said with a hope in his voice.

"I will." she answered "Because I know that you are one of the people who know the race of Joseph." she smiled at him knowingly.

"I like this phrase." he responded joyfully "And I'm sure that _you_ for me, as well, are one of the people who know the race of Joseph."

And so, from that day on, Julia and Niall spent every afternoon together, joined by Olive and Amelia, and the four of them had the most wonderful time together.

Julia discovered many things about Niall for example that he was from central London but had half of his family on Prince Edward Island, in Charlottetown. He was altogether a charming fellow of twenty-eight, who liked poetry and the same music as Julia did. He was a very talented painter as well. Julia even described him in her letter to Blythe as a " _perfect combination of Gilly's sense of humour and Owen's modesty_ ". Julia, Olive and Amelia simply _adored_ him. And he adored _them_.

But most of all Niall adored Julia. She interested him, especially by the way she looked at things and her bright optimism and independent will. He was, with their every evening spent together, falling more and more in love with her. However he decided on not showing it off to her, _yet._

One evening in the middle of December, Julia, Olive and Amelia were sitting on Niall's bed and they were all chattering, about everything and nothing in particular at the same time. It was already dark outside but they didn't even notice it. Their laughter echoed from the walls of the tent under they all were and the cold air from outside somehow was avoiding their small circle of friendship. Other soldiers surrounding them also were enjoying themselves by playing cards together, singing and talking as well. If it wouldn't be a hospital ward, and the soldiers wouldn't be in the hospital-clothes, someone would think it was almost a cafe-meeting.

"I really admire you girls, you know." Niall said to them all of a sudden.

"What do you admire us for?" Olive asked him curiously "How _beautiful_ we all are?" she joked and the four of them laughed joyfully.

"Yes," he chuckled "-but also for what you are doing for all of us, soldiers."

"' _There are things which have to be done,_ " Julia replied with a soft smile crossing her face "- _but not_ everyone _can do them_.' That's what Blythe wrote to me in one of his letters I got last month." she said and looked at the floor for a moment, with her mind being somewhere else instead.

Olive saw _this_ feeling on Julia's face and put her hand gently on Julia's own with tenderness in her eyes "That's a wonderful thought, dear." she said and grinned to her warmly.

"Yes, it really is." Niall agreed "You are all so brave."

"But what about you?" Amelia said suddenly "Aren't soldiers even braver than us, do you think?"

"No," Niall replied slowly "We aren't really. I mean we _are_ in a way. It's just not the right way of bravery, I suppose. To kill other people." he said the last bit with a strange look appearing in his blue eyes, which neither of the girls didn't see before.

"But doesn't it make you even braver?" Julia asked him "Because it's not the most honorable thing to do, it makes it even harder for you to do it and that's how it makes you even braver." she smiled to him and he smiled back with his shining, loving eyes.

"Nurse _Blythe_!" the annoyed voice of Mrs Tate from the corridor filled up the whole room. All soldiers in the room fell silent and looked at the tubby figure of Mrs Tate coming towards Julia in fast movements.

Julia rolled her eyes theatrically "Here we go again." she whispered to her friends and turned around to face her Matron "Yes, Mrs Tate?"

"You were supposed to go and unload the new pack of supplies that arrived _two_ hours ago!" Mrs Tate said with her red chubby face.

Julia's eyes went wide with embarrassment "Oh, I'm _so_ sorry, Mrs Tate! I completely forgot!" she apologised quickly.

"So it seems…" she murmured to herself "Go and fetch it, _now_!" she pointed at the door quickly and Julia almost jumped to go there.

"Immediately!" she shouted from the door and came outside, hearing the sound of laughter behind her back. And she laughed herself, while walking towards the van standing a little outside the camp with three big packs of new bandages, morphine and other medications inside them. Julia took one of them in her hands and almost right away dropped it back to its place. "Mrs Tate didn't mention that it's so heavy…" she said to herself but managed to hold it up again.

Suddenly, while she started walking towards her ward, which was almost on the other side of the camp, she noticed something very weird in the distance, on the sky. She stopped in her actions, put down the pack on the ground and looked at the sky closely by putting a hand on her forehead. There were about six little shining spots which were moving constantly and getting bigger and bigger with every second. And with them came the sound which provoked Julia's face to turn snowy white. Her hazel eyes went even darker than they already were and her hands started shaking nervously.

"The _bombs_!" she screamed and started running towards the nearest ward "Turn off the lights! The _bombs_!" she screamed but it was too late. The bomb was dropped from the German airplane around forty feet away from where Julia was standing. The loud "bang!" filled up the air, and Julia was thrown into the air. She landed exactly in the big puddle of mud and water and she laid there, under a complete shock, not being able to hear or to do anything.

It seemed to her as if the whole world around her stopped and stood completely still. Her forehead was pulsing and her thoughts were entirely blank. She was staring at the space in front of her, at the big hole in the ground where the first bomb was dropped and then in the second one where the second bomb was dropped. She thought that it was just a dream, that something like this could never happen to her, _never_ , and just in a blink of an eye she was in the middle of horror of the war. But she started hearing everything again when the sirens gave out their loud, terrifying cry.

"Oh, _God_!" she shouted and stood up quickly from the ground, not realising that she was covered in mud from head to toe "Help! _Help_!" she started shouting with a horror on her face, and looking for anyone who was outside the camp.

Suddenly she found a man lying on his front side, with his back also covered in mud "Sir! _Sir_!" she ran to him and started turning him around quickly "Are you alright…?" she began but as soon as she saw his deathly face, she left him with fast pounding heart and ran to the first tent, which happened to be her own ward, which she left just a few minutes earlier. It happened to be very near where the bomb was dropped. The tent was lying flat on the ground, and when she saw it, her heart was beating with an enormous speed and milions of questions were tumbling inside her worried head. She knew that that night will be the longest of her entire life.

"Is anyone hurt?" she shouted when she lifted up the material of what was once her ward and she looked in the darkness inside.

"Nurse…" a man lying on the ground moaned. Julia couldn't see his face but rushed immediately to the place where the sound of his voice was coming from.

"Don't worry, Sir." she said to him sternly "I'll help you." and she put his arm around her shoulders and in a wobbly way, took him outside of the tent "Someone _help_ me!" Julia shouted in despair, while looking around for stretchers of which location she was always aware but in this very moment she couldn't remember where they were at all. Then Julia's mind started working properly again and she thought about Olive, Amelia and Niall, inside the tent. Her eyes grew wider with fear and she felt as if she could just sit down and cry for the rest of the night. _I have to take care of this man first. Olive and others are fine._ she thought to herself, but hardly belived in it.

"Nurse! Nurse!" the figure of a man started sprinting towards Julia and the soldier who was hanging on her arm.

Julia sighed with relief "General Knowles! Thank Goodness!" she gasped and let herself smile at him "Are you alright?" she asked caringly.

"Yes, yes, perfectly fine." he stammered while looking at the tent behind Julia with real seriousness in his eyes "Do you need any help?" he asked.

"I need _every_ helpful hand I can get." she answered sternly "Take all of the stretchers out and lay them here." she ordered, pointing on the ground in front of her.

"On the ground?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes!" she exclaimed " _Now_! Hurry!" she said and sighed helplessly. And so Julia and General Knowles were slowly getting out all of the soldiers from the "recovery" ward, and with every minute more and more nurses and doctors ran to help them, and help the other soldiers from different wards as well.

Although Julia wasn't the Head Nurse and certainly didn't behave like one through all her years while she had been working as a nurse, she definitely _was_ the Head Nurse and Matron in one person that night. She was giving out orders to the other nurses and _even_ the doctors, nursing herself and being everywhere and for everyone who needed help. Mrs Tate unfortunately couldn't help Julia because of her leg which was broken after the tent fell on the ground. All she could do was to lay on one of the stretchers and just look at the total mess and chaos in front of her.

"Bath!" a fammiliar voice filled up the stiff air.

Julia put down the next soldier on the stretcher and turned around "Olive! Amelia!" she shouted in the brightest voice she had ever spoken in when she saw two of her friends running towards her with their opened arms. The three friends ran to each other with tears strimming down their faces and shoutings of joy coming out of their mouths.

"Oh, you're both fine! You're both _fine_!" Julia cried when she was being hugged by both Olive and Amelia nearly to the loss of her breath.

"Yes, we are." Olive cried back "But…" she dryed off her tears from her cheeks and looked closer at Julia's uniform "What has happened to _you_?" she asked.

Julia looked down on her clothes and only then she realized in what condition they actually were. She chuckled, "I landed in the puddle of mud when the bomb dropped."she said and she continued on laughing as if she just said the funniest thing in the world. And both Olive and Amelia seemed to get the joke and the three of them laughed light-heartedly.

"But what happened to _you_?" Julia asked them after a few seconds when they calmed themselves down.

"We were all in the tent when the bomb dropped." Amelia explained "Nothing at all happened to us except for some bruises we got when the tent went down. The poorest men were those who had their beds near the entrance to the tent." she sighed wistfully.

"I know." Julia agreed sadly "Four men died. And that's just our ward, I don't know what happened to the others in the other wards." she said and then looked behind her hurriedly "I have to go now, please find Niall for me." she said and when they nodded, she ran back to her duties. Niall was found and he was unhurt, and to everyone's biggest surprise his leg, which has been paralyzed for over one month, was now coming back to its normal form.

The action of recovering all of the soldiers from every ward, putting up all of the tents again and cleaning up inside, took the rest of the night and some of the morning as well. Julia was organising everyone and actually made quite a good team with Mrs Tate who even though was lying on one of the stretchers, was watching closely not only Julia but everyone else as well. Olive and Amelia also nursed and helped other soldiers who has been hurt that night.

All in all, when the sunrise started to spread across the pink sky, Julia eventually felt that she had no strength left in her body and sat down by Mrs Tate who was by then enjoying her coffee. "You did an incredible job today, Nurse Blythe." she said to her almost as soon as Julia sat down by her, with half-opened eyes.

Julia smiled at her faintly "It's just my duty, that's all…" she started sheepishly.

"Oh, _no_ , Nurse Blythe." Mrs Tate argued "It's definitely much more. General Knowles told me about your bravery and your immediete actions you took, straight after the bombing. You can be very proud of yourself." she gently patted her on the arm.

"Everyone would do the same in my place." Julia replied softly, with pink cheeks.

"Believe me, _not_ everyone. And you helped not only your ward, but all the others as well!" she answered and then smiled at her warmly "Now, you go to bed and take a two days leave. You deserve it." she said in a decided tone.

Julia stood up slowly and grinned to her "No, Mrs Tate, firstly, I'm going to take off my clothes and take a _long_ , warm shower." she replied.


	23. What Bravery Brings

**Chapter XXII**

Since the memorable day in December 1943, Julia was called a "Canadian hero" by all the nurses in her camp. Her story, however, reached Glen St. Mary as well and would never be forgotten. Julia's family, as they showed her by the amount of letters she got shortly before Christmas, was simply beaming with pride. " _If our Susan was here,_ " wrote Grandmother Blythe " _she wouldn't allow a_ single _person in Canada not to know what you did that night, darling. 'And that you may tie to!'_ ".

Julia was, obviously, being very modest about the whole 'situation' but enjoyed the "breath of popularity", as she called it, and was breathing it with a smile on her face. " _It is so very weird that everyone thinks of me as a huge hero!_ " she wrote in her diary " _I just helped others. That's all I did, and I did it because that's what I was born to do. And I don't think I did it in any way simmilar to the way a hero would do it._ ".

She was even more surprised when shortly after the New Year's Eve, she got a letter informing her that she will be awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal for her bravery in the nursing service. "You _definitely_ deserve it!" Olive exclaimed when she heard the news.

"Oh, I know I should say that 'I don't', but after all…" she smiled at the peace of paper she was holding "You don't get medals for bravery everyday, do you?"

* * *

 _Dearest Bathsheba,_

 _I don't even know how to begin this letter._ _I don't know how to express how much pride I carry in my heart for you in this very moment. Do you know how many times I wrote to you this little phrase (which appears to be my favourite one) "I am so proud of you"? I counted, and I worte it 43 times!_ _And so I will describe my pride for you in this very moment as those 43 times put all together in one place and multiplying it by a million. That's how proud of you I am right now._

 _The picture you sent me of this special moment when you received the Royal Red Cross medal, I carry in the pocket of my uniform whenever I go and show it to some of soldiers I meet saying: "This is my cousin and the dearest friend." and they nod their heads with respect, although the first thing most of them say to me is: "Gosh, she is a pretty thing, ain't she?", and I must say that I couldn't agree more._

 _Now, I shall say that this medal lying on your uniform looks absolutely wonderful and it seems to me as if you were_ born _to wear it._ _Tell me dearest, what are your hopes for the New Year? It's hard to believe that it's 1944 already, isn't it? We are at war for five long years now and I'm fed up with it completely and entirely. With every aspect of the war. I hate this word 'war', in my opinion it is an equal word to 'hatred' and 'death'. If I could, I would write the word 'war' as many times as I can, and burn them all in the flames._ _There, I'm talking about upsetting things again! I do it every single time, don't I? I apologise._

 _I'm glad that your work is going fine and that both you and Olive are quite safe now and optimistic, as always._ _You won't believe it but I met Claire's husband three days ago! General Lewis Andrews, is a very nice chap and he is so much in love with his wife, it's almost unbearable. Tell Claire that he sends his love to her._

 _It's so nice to find another kindred spirits in a place where you don't expect to find them at all. I'm glad that you found Amelia and Niall. From your description of them, they seem like the most perfect of friends and I'm hoping that I will meet them one day._ _I don't think there are lots of kindred spirits around me, unfortunately._ _That's why your letters mean so much to me, you know. They keep me alive and faithful._

 _Thank you for your beautiful response to my poems, I'm more than happy that you like them. And yes, I know they are a bit gloomy at times, but that's what the war does with the man's brain, doesn't it?_

 _I've heard about you brother's marriage and I must say that I'm quite surprised that Walt,_ our _Walt, was capable of something like a secret marriage! I shall write him a letter telling him that he is completely unpredictable and that I won't look at him in the same way again._ _But either ways, I feel very happy for him, and I must say that I even_ envy _him, that he has the chance to come back home, even without a leg._

 _You ask me about Cornelia. She's more than fine, I assure you. She's been more than fine ever since Marshall came back from the front and settled down in Charlottetown, with our Cilia._ _She constantly writes to me about our future wedding and really, sometimes it makes my head burn. You know how talkative she is, but this is just_ too _much at times. Her description of the wedding cake took her whole two pages to write!_ _Now, let's stop laughing, I know she is excited and I'm excited too,_ in a way _. One can't be excited when the war is all around you._

 _I will leave it there, because I really have to go to sleep and be ready for the morning._

 _Your not-excited but very proud,_

 _Flight Officer Blythe Ford_

* * *

 _Dearest daughter,_

 _Me and your Mother are the proudest parents you can possibly imagine._ _When we heard the news about the bombing of your camp, we were terrified and couldn't sleep that night, until your telegram came telling us that you're fine._

 _Your Matron wrote to us, you know, and she described in details what you did that night. I read out the letter outloud to our whole family and everyone fell silent the second I finished reading it._ _We are all so proud of you, Julia, that it's even hard to put it in words, you dear daughter o'mine. I could never dream, twenty years earlier when you were just a small baby giggling in my arms, that you will grow into such powerful woman you are today._ _And the Royal Red Cross medal you got, was just a perfect conclusion to how we all feel right now. Remember, Julia, wear it with pride and don't ever say "It's nothing." because it's much more than that. If it would be nothing, you would get nothing, and that's the one and only truth._

 _Walt and Lily are living happily with us in our House on the Hill. Me and your Mother are so happy to have at least one of our children back, and Lily really is a darling and she is almost like our third daughter._ _Walt is looking for a job as a Mathematics Professor and he already got a few replies from many parts os the Island. I just hope that he'll move to a place near Glen._

 _Cee is sending you her latest paintings of the landscape here is Glen. She has a wonderful gift of capturing the peacefulness of the fields._

 _Your Grandfather Meredith is a little bit ill at the moment, but I'm sure he'll get out of it easily. "I feel better already!" he said when I brought him the news of you getting a Royal Red Cross medal._

 _Everyone else is fine. Rilla and Ken are frequent visitors in our house, as they both feel so lonely in their House of Dreams with all of their children overseas. They are even thinking of getting a dog to keep them company! Can you imagine, your Aunt Rilla with a dog by her side? I can't._

 _Write to us as often as you always do, my darling girl._

 _With all our parental love,_

 _Father and Mother_

* * *

 _Dear Sister,_

 _I am so impressed!_ I am so impressed _! Proud of course, but so impressed by what you did, you crazy soul of Blythes!_ _I know you've heard it probably too many times now; all of the "I am so proud of you" and you must know that I am as well, but I will say one thing: Well done, Jules, and keep up your briliant work as a nurse!_ _Jake sends you his love and "the highest level of congratulations indeed" as he ordered me to write to you._

 _It's quite lonely, here in the trenches without Walt. Can you believe that he's married already? I really can't. And he is back home! What a lucky man he is!_

 _Now, that you arrived in France, I thought that maybe somewhere in March I will be able to take a few days off and meet up with you, but I talked to the General of my division and he said that we will be moved to Italy in two weeks and therefore I do can take a leave but in Italy, not in France, and it's not quite what I want. I was so angry at him, you know that when I get angry I am all red, not including my already red hair, and when Jake saw me, he thought that I was going to explode. But what can I do? I know that we shall see each other, sooner or later anyway._

 _I really hope that this war will come to an end soon. I don't know what I was thinking, back in the 1939, when I signed up with the certainty of an adventure awaiting me on the front._ _And that's the other reason why I admire you and what you do. Yes, Julia, I_ do _admire you, a great deal. You save lives everyday, our lives, the lives of the soldiers, and this is much more wonderful job than the job I has been doing for the past five years of my life._

 _But let us stop talking about such awful things, you know that I'm the last person to get sad, and I promise you that I'm_ not _sad, or feeling regret or guilt, I really don't. It's just that five years is far too long from being away from home, for me at least._

 _Still, I'm very greatful that I have Jake with me, and that I get your letters, which really are such wonderful, funny and faithful letters._

 _And with this, I'm ending my letter,_

 _Your proudest brother on the planet,_

 _Commandant Meredith Blythe_

* * *

In late March, Niall, with the great recovery from his leg injury, could have been sent back to the front and Julia, Olive and Amelia were worrying whether he will decide to go back to the front or back home, to England. It would be such a shame to loose him if he went back to England, Niall could always brighten up their day by telling them jokes or simply singing some of his songs that he created himself. But to loose him back to the war… Well, Julia couldn't quite imagine to have another stone put on her heart just like that.

"I have some news to tell you, girls." Niall said on one evening when the three girls sat down with him outside, with the cups of tea in each of their hands. Julia looked at him seriously, Olive gulped and Amelia closed her eyes quickly.

"Yes?" Olive said and looked at him worryingly.

"I'm not going back to the front." he replied with a smile forming on his lips "But I'm not going to England _either_."

"What do you mean by that?" Julia asked him in surprise but with much happier gleam in her hazel eyes.

"I mean that I will stay here, and help." he explained joyfully "Mrs Tate said that there is a lot of work with the cars here, as well as the work with… um… let's say building of the new toilets." he chuckled and so did the girls.

"So you'll be all over the place, basically." Olive concluded with a grin and patted his shoulder warmly.

"Excatly, that's my new job." he smiled at her "Being all over the place."

"Oh, I'm so happy that you'll stay here with us." Julia exclaimed and squeezed his hand "It would be such a pain to loose another kindred spirit into the war." she smiled to him lightly.

Niall patted Julia's hand gently "I will be there for you, Shebs." he said and looked at her adoringly.

Julia didn't notice _this_ look in his eyes and smiled to him sweetly, knowing that after all, they all shall go through this war, and will stay alive to see the end of pain and the beginning of joy. " _One sunny day_." she thought to herself.


	24. Oh, Love

**Chapter XXIII**

"Walt got a job as a Maths Professor in Redmond!" Julia exclaimed while holding the unfolded letter in her hands.

It was the middle of March, and spring was slowly coming through the fields and woods to the military camp near Rouen. It was a regular Friday afternoon, and Julia, Olive and Amelia's day-duty was over. They were switched again to the "newly arrived" ward and after working almost four years as a nurse, Julia could hardly mind seeing all of the fresh and new wounds on the newly arrived soldiers.

After the memorable bombing in December, the days seemed to calm down a little bit, as the most of the important fights were now happening in Italy and Asia and not in France, therefore Julia and her girls didn't have as much work as they once did.

The three girls were sitting on the bench outside with Niall, who just finished helping out with the new packages of blankets and food that arrived that afternoon. Julia was getting letters from every member of her family on regular basis, bringing her news about the Glen's life, which Julia was always reading out to her friends each afternoon.

"In this college, you mean?" Olive asked her curiously.

"Yes, in Kingsport." Julia replied with a smile "I'm so happy for him, he always wanted to work there. But…" she sighed wistfully "Kingsport is so far away from Glen!"

"But it's still in Canada." Niall said "And what about me? Half of my family lives all the way across the Atlantic!"

Julia nodded and smiled at him warmly "You're quite right about that. But you see it seems as if everyone from my family is just moving away from me, as soon as they get married." she said the last bit reluctantly.

"And maybe when _you_ 'll marry, you will move out of Glen as well?" Amelia suggested and grinned knowingly at Olive and Niall.

Julia smiled at her, feeling how her cheeks turned red with hearing the word "marry", "I hope not." she said slowly "Cilia is in Charlottetown, Rose says that when her John will come back from the front, they will move to Montreal, and now Walt is going to Kingsport. I wonder where _I_ will go?" she asked.

"I'll tell you _what_ you'll do." Olive said with shining eyes "You and I will rent out a beautiful apartment in Kensington together, and will become nurses famous _all_ over London, and we will never marry and live happily ever after." she laughed and so did the others.

"That's a wonderful proposition, but I'm afraid I have to refuse it." Julia chuckled and squeezed Olive's hand "Whether you like it or not, I want to get married, _one_ day." she said and caused Niall to look at her meaningfully although she didn't see it.

"I do as _well_!" Olive sighed theatrically and hid her head in her arms, making her friends laugh even louder than they did before.

"Well, this thing is sorted then!" Niall concluded joyfully and turned to Julia "Did you get any other letters?" he asked her.

"Yes…" she replied briskly and took out the bunch of letters from the pocket of her coat and put them on her knees "Aunt Rilla wrote to me, so did Gilly, Rose, Mother, and Uncle Carl." she said.

"That's not so many then." Olive said suddenly "You always get like ten every week."

"Yes, I don't mind though, I wouldn't have the time to answer them all anyway, in such detail as everyone expects me to." she looked over to Amelia "Did you get a letter from your sister?" she asked her curiously.

"Yes, but just a short one." Amelia answered quickly "Mollie is thinking about joining up too." she smiled shyly.

"Oh, that's splendid!" Olive exclaimed "Do you think that she really will, though?"

"I don't know." Amelia replied honestly "I don't think our parents will allow her to. She just turned eighteen after all."

"Gosh, I was eighteen _ten_ years ago!" Niall sighed "Am I really this old, do you think girls?" he asked, looking at each of them with hopeful eyes.

The girls looked at each other and giggled. " _Yes_!" the three of them said in the same moment causing Niall to laugh light heartedly.

"Oh!" Olive gasped suddenly and reached for something in her pocket "I forgot to tell you, Bath, I got a letter from Claire." she said and unfolded the small envelope.

"What did she write to you?" Julia said in an excited tone.

"She said that her husband is coming back home, as he got wounded in the eye and can't see properly." Olive responded, her eyes twinkling.

"That's what happened to my Uncle Carl in the First War." Julia added "Is Claire happy or devasteted? She can't be somewhere in the middle, knowing her." she chuckled and so did Olive.

"She is very happy." Olive replied, smiling "Especially becasue she wants to quit nursing 'as soon as possible'."

"Why?" Julia asked in a suprised tone.

"Becasue she is so exhausted that "she can hardly stand on her legs"." Olive read out and rolled her eyes "Anyway, she says that Lewis is coming back in April and they are going to settle down in Birmingham, near her Grandma."

"That's good." Julia grinned "I'm really happy for her, but then…" she gasped "She will leave my poor Leslie all alone!"

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Julia." Olive replied and patted her friend's arm "You don't think that _your_ Leslie won't make a new friend, do you?" she raised her brows.

"No, I don't." Julia replied "Especially when it comes to _my_ Leslie." she grinned.

* * *

Julia and Olive were right. In April, Julia got two letters, one from Claire informing her that she just moved to a new house with Lewis, and the second one from Leslie telling her that she has been moved to a room with a girl who was called Jane Lucas, and " _she is a real gem, I'm telling you._ " as she wrote to Julia.

Accidentally at the same time, Blythe made a new friend too. " _Edmondo Buccharei is my new pilot-friend._ " he wrote to Julia " _He is from Milan, and always dreamed of becoming a pilot. His mother is English and that's why he and I can communicate really._

 _"He teaches me a little bit of Italian, and in my opinion it is the most wonderful language on the Earth. It's so rich in pronounciation, and all of the Italian words sound as if they were so… important and meaningful. When I learn new words or hear Edmondo speaking Italian, I feel as if I was hearing the language of the gladiators's home and Roman history. Don't you think that it would be wonderful if one day, I would go to Italy and could talk and laugh with real Italians?_

 _Edmondo loves poetry, especially Shakespeare and Tennyson's work and therefore we really have lots and lots to talk about! He really is the nicest fellow and companion I could ever ask for._ ".

Everything in Julia's world, and her friends' world, seemed to be finally calm and quite peaceful, without any problems or sharp pains going through anyone's soul. But Julia knew that something must have happened eventually, as she knew that the world wasn't all colourful and painless, especially during the war. On one afternoon, after Julia's and Olive's duty, both of the girls decided on taking a walk around the camp before returning to their 'tent-home' for supper.

"I can't believe it's April already." Julia said when she put her hand through Olive's arm "It seems as if the new year has just started, and it's almost half way through!" she sighed "Don't you think that the time flows ever so quickly?"

"Yes…" Olive replied absent-mindedly, in a voice which wasn't quite her own. Julia looked at her friend's face seriously. Was this Olive or someone else walking next to her? Surely it couldn't be Olive, who looked so tired and absent-minded. Olive was _never_ absent-minded, however tired she would get. Julia noticed before that Olive's thoughts were drifting in the couds sometimes, and that her face looked worn out, but she never truly considered it as a very serious issue until this moment, when she knew that Olive wanted to tell her something but couldn't.

"Olive?" Julia said softly "What is it?" and she took her hand in hers.

Olive looked up to Julia's face shyly "Will you promise that you won't laugh if I tell you?" she asked her, with her cheeks flushing with bright red.

"I would never laugh at whatever is bothering you." Julia assured her and smiled at her kindly "Now, tell me; _What_ is troubling you?"

Olive took a deep breath and looked at the grass in front of her "I am… in love." she whispered finally.

Julia stopped walking and turned around to face Olive with wide eyes, full of surprise "In _love_?" she said repeated in disbelief. Could Olive ever be in love, she thought, _could_ she be in love? And if so why, in Heaven's name, didn't she tell her?

"Yes, Bath, in _love_." Olive replied quickly, a bit harshly "Now, do stop looking at me like this!" she ordered, taking Julia's arm quickly and starting walking with her again.

"But Olive!" Julia exclaimed and stopped her friend again "We are friends, and you have _never_ told me this!" Julia crossed her arms, feeling almost offended.

"I was…" she started and sighed helplessly "The man that I'm in love with is in love with someone else." she said eventually.

Julia looked at her with raised brows "Don't I know _all_ about it?" Julia asked her and made Olive to chuckle bitterly.

"I haven't thought about that, actually." she said.

"But _who_ is this mysterious man who stole my friend's heart so easily?" Julia demanded with a hint of excitement in her voice, forgiving her friend at once "Do I know him?" she asked again.

"Yes, you do." Olive whispered again, her cheeks flushing with red again.

"I _do_?" Julia asked her, being surprised once more "But… this leaves me with just _one_ person on my mind!" Julia gasped and put her hands on her cheeks "Niall?!"

Olive's eyes started to shine and she looked at Julia shyly " _Niall_." she replied quietly.

"But Niall isn't in love with anyone!" Julia exclaimed.

"He is in love, Julia, he _is_." Olive said sorely and looked meaningfully in her friend's eyes.

And, all of a sudden Julia understood the message and her mouth opened slightly, being then in a complete shock "You _must_ be joking." she said seriously.

"How could I ever joke about a thing like that?" Olive asked her even more seriously "He really loves you, I can see that so plainly in his eyes, in the words he says to you, in the way he says them. It's just…" she gulped, holding back tears "-really hard for me to bear."

"Oh, Olive…" Julia said quietly and put her friend in her arms, hugging her tightly "Whether Niall loves me or not, you know that _I_ don't love him. I can't love him because of… _Blythe_." she whispered into Olive's ear, hardly able to say Blythe's name outloud.

"I know, but it doesn't make the matters any better, does it?" Olive asked her, and looked at Julia's face with a heartbreak in her eyes.

"No, unfortunately." Julia replied wistfully "What is it about me, that I always attract such bitter love-stories into my life?" she sighed loudly and waved her hands in despair.

Olive chuckled sadly "You are Bathsheba, remember?" she said.

Julia looked at her and grinned hopelessly "Yes, and sometimes, it complicates my life too much, and that's the very problem." she said.

* * *

" _And so,"_ Julia wrote in her diary two days later " _Olive is in love with Niall; Niall is in love with me; I'm in love with Blythe; and Blythe is in love with Cornelia. Life couldn't get any better, could it?_

 _"Olive and I decided that we can't do anything about any of these points listed above. We have to let things happen, and focus on our daily lives and work… Oh, what nonsense do I write! Both Olive and I know that this is impossible to do, to just focus on our lives and work and not on our love-affairs (which aren't even real)._

 _"Nonsense, or no-nonsense, but it's true, and both of us have to accept it. Even my Mother-dear wrote to me the same thing: "Darling, work as hard as you can, help others, and be yourself. Let everything else happen in its time. And this time will come, you'll see." And I suppose I have to believe that whether or not I like it._

 _"It seems a bit selfish, actually, me thinking about my feelings for Blythe when at the same time, everyday, even_ now _, so many innocent people are dying everywhere in the world. And that's another reason why I must just put the love-doings aside, and focus on being a nurse._

 _"Today I said my farewell to a soldier, Lieutenant Thomas Nicholson, whom I nursed for three months, since he experienced an explosion in no-man's-land. He had burns all over his body, and was quite downhearted through the whole recovery-time. But today he came back home, to Brighton, and he said to me before he left: "If it wasn't for you, Nurse Blythe, there would be a wooden stick standing in front of you, not alive at all, instead of a happy man I am today.". Isn't the life of a nurse, the most wonderful and precious of all the jobs out there in the world?"._

And with this Julia closed her diary, snuggled into her bed and fell asleep with a smile crossing her lips.


	25. Spring '44

**Chapter XXIV**

In May, Julia turned twenty-two and couldn't quite believe it. _Twenty two_! She always thought that the time she would turn twenty, she would be a real adult, now she knew that the time changed every theory she created during her childhood, and the day she turned twenty two, she felt that she really was a woman but a hint of her girlhood still remained in her soul.

Olive, Amelia and Niall sang her a "Happy Birthday" song, and gave her one special present from all of them. It was a first edition of "Far From the Madding Crowd", and Julia was simply speechless when she read out the date on the front cover.

" _1874_!" she gasped "How could you save up so much money to buy me this? And where on Earth did you get it from?" she questioned them while kissing each of her friends' cheeks.

"It is our small secret which will remain a secret until the end of time." Niall whispered mysteriously and Julia would never ask about it again.

* * *

" _Amelia declared to us today that she is quitting her job as a VAD and coming back to Australia._ " Julia wrote to Blythe, at the end of May " _She is leaving us becasue her mother developed a depression and she has to take care of her as soon as possible._ _We are all very sad, and a bit disappointed, but in tho_ _se circumstances I completely understand her. And I think, to be honest, it will do her good anyway. She looked so pale and exhausted lately, even Mrs Tate noticed that._

 _"She will leave in two weeks, and I can already feel tears coming up to my eyes. She has been such a chum to me for those past nine months and although we never really grew as close as I am with Olive, she is very dear to me anyway._ _But, what's done is done, and I will always respect her decision._

 _"Have you heard that_ both _Lily and our own Cilia are pregnant? Isn't it the most wonderful news you can possibly imagine, tell me Blythe?_ _And they are both due in February! What a perfect coincidence! Now, I will stop here until I will be completely lost my own imagination._ _My brother will be a_ father _! I won't believe it until I will see his little son or a daughter lying in his arms, and looking_ exactly _like him._

 _"The other news from Walt is that he has found a home for him, Lily and the baby, in Kingsport and so they are moving there, it's decided; in the middle of July._

 _"Blythe, don't you think that our generation grew up too fast? It seems as if it was just a year ago when all of us played in 'Indians' in our Rainbow Valley!_ _Please, tell me that you didn't grow up_ too _much! And if you did… then just wait until we meet and I'll give you one of my speeches!"_

 _"No, dearest, I didn't grow up at all, I think."_ Blythe wrote back " _And I don't intend on growing up in some ways till the rest of my life, I promise you._

 _"Yes, the news are just wonderful. Babies are everywhere now, aren't they?_ _But I'm very happy for both Walt and Cilia. I'm sure they will soon write to me ten-pages long letters just like Rose once did, three years ago._

 _"I'm so sorry about Amelia though. From your descriptions of her, she seems like the very image of our Aunt Una, or Luna herself and therefore a true kindred spirit._

 _"Julia, do you plan on going to Paris anytime in the near future? If yes, then you really should go there, and visit all of the places I told you about a year ago._ _Now is the time to travel, Sheba, especially while you are so near Paris now!_ _How I wish I could go and explore Paris with you. You would make the whole trip much more intresting than the Paris itself."_

* * *

Julia listened to Blythe's advice, and both Julia and Olive decided on taking a three-days-leave in the first days of June, so that they could go and explore Paris together, in the same way as they once did back in their dear old London. Coincidentally, just a day before Julia's and Olive's planned leave, Amelia was coming back home, to her family in Melbourne. The both girls and Niall said their goodbyes to Amelia, wishing her all the best and promising that they shall all see each other again.

"You will write to us, won't you?" Julia asked Amelia in a hopeful voice, when she came into a van with two other nurses and six soldiers.

"I'll never stop." Amelia replied and smiled to her friends with tears glistening in her eyes. And as soon as she said it, the van started moving faster and faster. And so suddenly, Amelia Dallas dissapeared into the darkness, away from the war and her friends.

* * *

The day after, Olive and Julia changed for the first time that year into their normal old clothes, said their goodbyes to Niall who waved them off with a boyish smile on his face and the two of them caught their train to Paris. Julia thought that in that moment, she felt like a ten-year-old girl again, and she was smiling so much, her face hurt at the end of the day.

Both she and Olive joked and laughed and told each other stories from their childhood. They looked so jolly and carefree (not saying beautiful), that many soldiers, either French, British, American or _even_ German looked around whenever they passed them, lost in their conversations and admiring the beauty of Paris surrounding them.

They visited so many places during those three days that they coudn't even remember all details about their journey. "I will have to thank Blythe for suggesting this idea to me." Julia said to Olive when both of them just sat down in the train which was going back to Rouen.

"You have to." Olive agreed "It was really the best time of my life!" she said and giggled.

Julia smiled at her "Yes, we completely forgot about the war for three whole days, didn't we?" Julia sighed happily.

"Yes, and that's why it was the best three days of my life!" Olive whooped and Julia chuckled.

"Do you think that war will end soon?" Julia asked her suddenly, when she noticed outside the train window a few soldiers standing on the platform and saying farewells to their loved ones.

"I don't know, dear Bath." Olive sighed and looked out of the window as well "At the beggining of the war, my Father told me that it will end in less than six months. And now it has been going on for five years." she sighed.

"I always thought it would take more than everyone else supposed." Julia said wistfully "But you know, the First War lasted for less than five years and everyone thought it was so long then, and now?" she sighed "I just hope it will end soon."

"Everyone hopes that." Olive put her hand on Julia's arm "But you'll see, it will end, it can't go on forever." she smiled with a smile Julia liked the most of all.

"I know." Julia whispered and suddenly felt really cold, although it was a warm day in June and the train was crowded and overheated. Julia pictured how she parted with Merry and Troy, and then a few months later with Jake and Gilly, then when she said her farewells to her family and went overseas herself, how she said farewells to Walt and Blythe, she even imagined how Owen was sent off just a few months earlier that year. "What's the point of it all?" she whispered and looked at the soldier who was kissing maybe his sweetheart, maybe his wife outside on the platform.

Olive looked outside as well and sighed "I suppose we'll never know." she replied slowly.

The soldier jumped on the train, and as soon as he did, the train started moving slowly and gradually, heading towards Rouen, with Julia and Olive not realising that the day after there will be a very important moment in the history of the war called, later on, a D-Day.

* * *

 _Dear Julia,_

 _I haven't written to you in quite a while, and I'm sorry for that but I was enourmously busy with "flying around" as we call it here._ _It's really wonderful to hear that you visited Paris and liked it as much as you wrote you did. I only wish that one day I will get the oppurtinity to visit it as well._

 _Yes, I agree with you, the D-Day was tremendously tiring and I can't even imagine so many wounded soldiers waiting for you to take care of them, as you described them in your last letter. I'm so happy that now you can have some more peaceful days again! Do try not to over-work, please Jules?_

 _You ask me about Faye; well, she is doing splendidly and we write to each other twice a week. She is just so perfect, it is hard for me to believe that she actually wants to talk with me!_ _And there I will tell you the latest news, my dear! We are engaged!_ _Yes, you heard right, we are_ engaged _. I asked her by a telegram and she answered with a telegram too. We plan to get married after the war, of course, and in Glen, so don't be afraid, you'll see me at the aisle._

 _We decided on Glen becasue Faye only has her parents to bring, she is an only child and so are her parents and therefore her family isn't as big as ours. That's why they will come with her to Canada, and Faye will live there with me._ _I am so happy, Jules, it's quite impossible for me to think about anything else at the moment! I hope you are happy for me, too? Of course you are, you are my Sheba after all, aren't you?_

 _I have to go back to my duties now,_

 _Write to me as often as you can_ _sweetie,_

 _Your enormously happy cousin,_

 _Flight Officer Gilbert Ford_

Julia looked quite blankly at the peace of paper she was holding in her hands. Of course she was happy for Gil! How could she not be happy when one of her dearest friends was "enormously happy"? But her heart was a little bit shattered by the news, whether or not she liked it but she had to admit it. Lily is happily married, expecting a baby, Cilia happily married and expecting a baby, Rose already having one baby and waiting patiently for her husband to come back home, _even_ Claire settled down with her own husband! And _now_ Gil and his engagement.

And Blythe… Blythe engaged _too_. How horrible it sounded to her! She tried so many times to write him a letter confessing her love to him, and begging him to break his engagement off, but every time she tried to do it in her mind the picture of the smiling Blythe, walking home with Cornelia, hand-in-hand was appearing and wouldn't go away.

Julia _was_ quite happy. She really was. She loved her job, and was very greatful to be able to help all of those poor soldiers. She was extremely thankful for all her cousins to be as safe as they could be on the front. But something in her heart was missing, and that was another thing that reminded Julia that she was a woman now and not a little ten-year-old girl anymore.

She put Gilly's letter on her night-table and turned on her portable radio she got for her eighteenth birthday. As soon as it turned on, the beautiful song filled up the 'tent-home'; " _We'll meet again_ " by Vera Lynn, one of Julia's favourite songs. She smiled to herself with a rememberance of dancing with Blythe at the New Year's Eve in 1941 to exactly this song. She could remember every word he said and every word that she said during those three precious minutes. How handsome he looked! And tall! His grey eyes simply overfilled with dreaminess and poetry...

"Would you care for a dance?"

Julia lifted up her head to see Niall standing in front of her with his hand awaiting for her to be grabbed. She smiled at him and with a small sigh of disappointment, she put her hand in his and let Niall dance with her and sing with her the song she knew so well.

She tried to close her eyes and imagine that it was Blythe dancing with her, that there were _his_ arms around her waist and _his_ voice whispering the words of the song into her ear… But nothing worked our for her, and all that Julia could do was to open her eyes and try to hold back the tears she always had while listening to the wonderful voice of Vera Lynn.

Julia knew by then that Niall really _was_ in love with her, as she could see it plainly in his blue eyes, but she couldn't let him know that she knows that becasue of the poor Olive. What would she say if she would she them dancing together? Julia thanked the Providence that Olive was helping out Mrs Tate in the "recovery" ward that evening.

"Is something troubling you, Shebs?" Niall asked her while they danced.

"Yes, but I don't want to talk about it." Julia replied quickly and put her head on his shoulder, to avoid his curious eyes.

Niall furrowed his brows "Why not? We're friends aren't we?" he asked her, almost doubtfully.

"We are but…" she sighed quietly "It's one of those things one wants to think over alone." she said eventually.

"I see." he said and put his hand under her chin, so that he could look in her eyes. He smiled at her "Whatever is on your mind, I promise you that everything will turn out just fine." he assured her.

"How can you be so certain?" she asked him with a raised brow.

He smiled at her again, this time with a funny smile of his own "I just _know_. One way or another, it will be fine." he said decidedly and Julia decided on not arguing with him.

"Thank you." she whispered and put her head on his shoulder again, and listened to the last minute of the song. _"If only I could believe that"_ she thought to herself.


	26. Decision

**Chapter XXV**

In August, the Western Allies started pushing back the German forces, making Julia, Olive, Niall and many many others believe in God and justice again. At the same time, in Poland, the Warsaw Uprising began, which everyone was reading about in the newspapers while holding their breaths. And so the summer turned quickly into autumn which brought hope and faith into Julia's life more than ever during the war. The days were coming and going away, hardly noticed by anyone.

Walt and Lily moved to Kingsport as planned in July, and Walt was writing to Julia adressing himself proudly as the "Mathematics Professor". Cilia was writing to Julia more regularly than she ever did, telling her all about the preparations she and Marshall were doing for their baby. Even Owen had the chance to write to Julia and tell her that " _All is fine, and don't worry about me._ ".

Gilly was still in Italy, wheras Blythe was moved over to the east of France in late November. " _But there is no hope for me getting a leave anytime soon, unfortunately._ " he wrote to Julia " _It's making me_ so _angry! We are both on the same land, and still I can't see you!_ ". Julia chuckled under the series of exclamation marks he made in his letter, but.. was angry herself that she couldn't see him anytime soon.

Merry and Jake were in Italy too, being once again in the " _boring_ " trenches as Jake wrote to Julia. Also, in September, Jake was finally moved up to a position of a Captain and everyone couldn't be more proud. Leslie was happily nursing in London, and her friendship with Jane turned into a real "bosom friendship", like Julia's and Olive's friendship was.

" _And it's December, once again!_ " Julia wrote in her diary " _This year went too fast. I know that maybe it is good that it did because of the war, but to be honest I never really liked when the time was passing so fast._ _I can't believe that I haven't seen my home for three years now. Three_ years _! That's such a long time! So many things I could have done for those three years if it hadn't been for the war._ _And I haven't seen my brother Merry and cousin Jake for five years! I'm sure that the photos they send me don't show how much changed they really are and I'm certain that they_ did _change. Merry is twenty-four now and Jake twenty-three. They were such boys in 1939, just nineteen and eighteen year olds!_

 _"I'm sure_ I _changed too, on the outside I mean. I don't think I really changed_ dramatically _on the inside, at least I hope I didn't and if yes, than I hope that I changed only for the better._ _Goodness, I'm twenty-two! That's such a weird thing, I don't feel any different than when I was fourteen, although probably my Dad would say that it can't be true, but I feel like it is. Of course I don't feel like playing in 'Indians' again, but I still feel free and wild._

 _"Blythe has been on my mind for quite a while and it seems that I can't push him away from my thoughts, although I tried so hard, I can't._ _It seems as if the old yet romantic quote from the "Pride and Prejudice" will haunt me forever and ever whenever I will think of Blythe: "You have bewitched me, body and soul." this is exactly how I feel about him. I'm not in a melancholy though, I'm just very ready for "the move". And m_ _aybe I will make it one day._

 _"I really shouldn't think about things like that when just yesterday the "Battle of the Bugle" started involving all of the Allies forces. Right now we are just waiting for the soldiers from this Belgian front to arrive here._ _It is quite strange when you think about it, so many tragic horrible things happen in the world, and one can't think about them and instead think about someone they love but there is no love from them in return._

 _"Well, at least me and Olive are in the exactly the same situation, and sometimes, although it really is very "égoïste" like the French would say, it makes me feel better, to actually have someone near you who is stuck in the same kind of mud like me and doesn't know how and when to get out of it._

 _"Anyway, I am going to dress up in my unifrom now, because my duty starts in just half an hour!_ _As Grandmother Blythe would say: "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it,_ yet _!""_

* * *

The Christmas Day in 1944 arrived with snow flowing down from the sky and the cold winter breeze coming from the woods and fields surrounding the small military camp near Rouen. Julia and Olive sang Christams carols for the whole day, and they made many soldiers smile at them for the first time in weeks. Then, the both of them and Niall had their special little "Christmas Dinner" and gave each other small gifts. "Oh, it's so magical today!" Julia exclaimed while drinking her tea at the table in the canteen "I wonder what all of my boys are doing today?".

"I bet Merry is joking all the time with this Jake of yours." Olive suggested with a smile.

Julia chuckled "You're most likely right!" she said "Gilly is probably talking with his pilot-friends and eating and eating till his stomach can't take any more food, Owen is probably listening to all the navy-officers' talk, and Blythe probably writes new poems and gazes up at the stars." she sighed saying the last bit in a different voice of hers, picturing in her head the black-haired man looking up at the sky filled up with billions of stars which reflection could be seen in his grey eyes.

"It's good that we have each other tonight, isn't it?" Olive asked and looked at Niall with a shy smile.

"It is." he answered with a soft grin on his lips "Especially during Christmas, when people who are dear to each other are supposed to be spending it together." he said, gazing up at Julia longingly.

Julia met his eyes and looked down on her cup she was holding, she nodded "Yes, that's true. Do you miss your home, Niall?" she asked him suddenly.

"I miss my parents." he replied sadly "But I don't really miss anything else. I always wanted to live in France, you know." his eyes started shining again, and he smiled at the two curious girls looking at him.

"Really?" Olive said in an interested tone "Why?"

"I used to come to many different parts of France when I was a child." he said with a grin of a memory crossing his face "And I always loved its landscapes and the sense of peacefulness. Not saying that the landscapes are the best source for the amateur-painter like me." he chuckled quietly.

"I've never been anywhere as a child," Olive said and sighed "But I always dreamed of travelling, _all_ around the world." she finished dreamily.

"If you could go anywhere you want, in this very moment, where would you go?" Julia asked her curiously.

"Hm… I would go to Florence and watch the sea all afternoon." Olive replied and giggled like a little girl "What about you?" she asked both of her friends.

Niall and Julia looked at each other and smiled "Canada." they both said at the same moment and the three of them laughed cheerfully.

"All of us have to meet up in Glen one day." Julia said decidedly "I mean all of us: you, Niall, Claire, Amelia and I, so you can all meet my crazy family and they can meet you." she grinned.

"That would be lovely." Olive said and grinned back in the way both she and Julia always grinned to each other as if it was their hidden message only they, the kindred spirits, could understand.

"Nurse Jones!" Mrs Tate suddenly appeared at their table, all red from either emotions or the cold weather.

"Yes, Matron?" Olive stood up immediately.

"Would you please check on Lieutenant Lloyds while I will take care of the new delivery of morphine?" she asked her hurriedly "It will only take twenty minutes. And I will prepare a cocoa for _you_ especially." she winked at her.

Olive almost gasped "Of _course_ , Matron!" she said joyfully and waved to Julia and Niall, leaving them by themselves. Julia and Niall laughed while watching Olive run after Mrs Tate in this funny way which made her look as if she was dancing. Then Julia eventually realised that she and Niall were left alone. And they were _never_ alone, not after Julia learned that Olive loved Niall and that Niall loved her instead of Olive.

Julia gulped and her cheeks flushed with red. She looked back at her cup, trying to avoid the intense gaze of Niall's blue eyes, searching in her own hazel eyes for some of the feeling which was glistening in his eyes for the past year. "We're alone now." Niall whispered as if to himself.

Julia's face turned even redder and her grasp around the cup tightened "We never really are truly alone, are we?" she said slowly, and then questioned herself why did she just said that outloud.

"No. Although I would love that sometimes." he answered and looked in Julia's eyes with adoration.

Julia looked at him seriously "What… do you… mean exactly?" she breathed out, but knew that this question was quite unnecessary.

Niall took her hand in his and squeezed it "I think you know exactly what I mean, Julia." he said eventually, in a low tone.

She just nodded and looked away once more "Niall, I…" she started but he interrupted her.

"I love you." he whispered in a way that Julia thought that it was hurting him to even say those three words outloud.

"I know." she said softly after the awkward moment of silence and looked in Niall's eyes at last "But _I_ don't love you, not in this way anyway." she said finally and tears appeared in her eyes.

He let out her hand and his face turned a bit pale, but he was still looking in Julia's hazel eyes meaningfully "Maybe... if I kiss you, you will change your mind?" he murmured with a hopeful voice.

She shook her head quickly "No, I won't, Niall." she said with breaking voice.

"Why? Tell me what should I do to make you love me in this way?" he asked her passionately "I will do _anything_ …"

It was then Julia who interrupted him "There's nothing you nor I can do to do it." she answered him in a serious tone "I… sometimes wish I _could_ , but I can't… because…" she gulped and felt that she couldn't bring herself to say it outloud.

"You love someone else." Niall finished for her with a sad smile on his face.

"I do." she said again and her lip started to tremble "And it hurts _so_ much." she breathed out and tears started strimming down her cheeks, revealing all of her emotions she had been hiding for so long from everyone around her.

Niall sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders and she quickly snuggled into his arms "Tell me your long and complicated love-story you promised to tell me the day we met." Niall suggested with a lighter expression on his face.

And so Julia told him everything, from the very beggining and he listened carefully and understood her utterly. Julia knew that he did understand and she wasn't afraid of her fear anymore, she was determined to do something about her lonely and longing heart. She was glad that Niall knew now, that he knew that she could never love him in _that_ way, and that her big secret wasn't a secret for him any more. "You _must_ write to him." Niall said when she finished her story.

Julia looked at him and dryed off her tears "How?" she asked him nervously and almost helplessly.

"You know how better than anyone else, my dear." he said warmly and kissed her cheek in a _friendly_ way.

She smiled at him and then laughed quietly "It took me four years to decide on writing to him and telling him how I feel." she said.

"Better now, than never." Niall replied merrily.

"You'll be alright?" she asked him quickly while getting up from her seat, with a fresh expression on her face.

"Yes, I will." he said with a small honest grin on his face "We are just not meant to be, it seems. And that means that somebody else is meant for me too. And I'll find that someone one day." he squeezed Julia's hand assuringly.

"Olive is quite similar to me in many ways." she said and smiled at him knowingly, making Niall's eyes change from blank into the alive ones again.

"I'll watch out for her then." he chuckled and grabbed Julia's hand once again "Good luck." he whispered.

"Thank you. I'll need it more than ever." she whispered back and squeezed his hand before running back to her 'tent-home' and finally being ready for one of the biggest steps she would do in her life.

* * *

Julia wrote a three pages long letter to Blythe on the Christmas Day of 1944, five years after Blythe confessed to her that he loved her, three years after Julia last saw Blythe, realising that it could never be anyone else for her but him. Those three pages were much more than just a love letter, it was a pure dedication of love and faithfulness filled up with poetry, honesty, tears, hopes and dreams for the bright future. And although Julia thought that the writing of this letter would take her the whole afternoon, she was wrong, it took her just twenty minutes to write. She attached to the letter her photograph which Olive took of her under the Eiffel Tower just six months earlier and for the first time in her life, she finished the letter saying " _With all my love for you,_ Your _Bathsheba_ ".

Julia told Olive everything, after writing the letter, of what happened after she left to help Mrs Tate and Olive cried with tears of happiness along with Julia for the rest of the afternoon, singing and joking as if they really _were_ fourteen year olds again. Julia sent the letter the day after and as soon as she did, she felt as if she really got those wings attached to her back like Blythe told her, back on Christams Day in 1939, that he used to get whenever he was thinking of her.

Julia thought that things could only get better if the war ended. All she could feel for the next three days was a pure definition of happiness and _relief._ She could dance all day, sing all night and not sleep at all. She was so certain that Blythe would answer her with just as long love-letter and that they would marry and love each other for the rest of their lives. She was so _sure_ about it, her heart could almost pop out of her chest whenever she only thought about the very word 'Blythe'.

However it all changed with just one telegram which came early in the morning, four days after the Christmas Day, informing Julia that Blythe has been wounded in his back and is in a critical state in the hospital in Paris.

* * *

 **I just wanted to say a big "Thank you!" to all my dear readers for reading my story and reviewing (special thanks to Alinyaalethia, Kim Blythe and IrishPrincess) ;)**

 **Enjoy my next chapters which I will post very soon! :) Once more, thank you everyone and please read, enjoy and remember: review! :D - Bathsheba Blythe**


	27. The Book Of Revelation

**Chapter XXVI**

The day after receiving the news of Blythe, Julia took a one day leave, bought a ticket for the train to Paris and went there very early in the morning. She looked pale and tired with shadows of sleepiness under her eyes after the night which she spent on walking around her camp and thinking about what to say and what to do once she will see Blythe in the hospital.

" _Wounded in his back._ " Julia thought that night " _And in a critical state. It can mean anything._ " She felt horrible all night and was furious with herself for not writing Blythe that letter when she should have done. " _Such_ a fool!" she hissed to punish herself "Such a little foolish _girl_! Who writes a love letter after four years of waiting?!"

But as soon as the dawn came, Julia felt ready to go, enourmously eager to go, and she didn't feel the sleeplessness of the night at all. Her heart was beating fast, her mind was quite blank and her heart filled with love and hope. Although the journey from Rouen to Paris wasn't long at all, to Julia it felt like years had passed until she finally stepped on the platform of Paris. It took her another hour to get to the hospital where Blythe was, but when she did, and she stood in front of the hospital's door, she could swear that her heart stopped beating completely and her skin colour changed to white.

But she came inside, rather hurriedly, and made her way towards the reception, where the middle-aged woman with tender eyes almost seemed like she awaited her. "I came to see Flight Officer Blythe Ford." Julia said almost gravely, breathing heavily.

"Are you a relative?" the nurse asked in a heavy French accent and looked at Julia's uniform curiously.

"Yes, I'm his…" she gulped "- _cousin_." she said eventually.

The nurse smiled warmly and stood up from her seat "Follow me." she said tenderly and Julia did exactly that.

"Do you know anything about his injuries?" Julia questioned immediately.

"Yes, it happens that I nursed him, when he arrived, two days ago." she replied "He was wounded with a bullet in his back and his legs are paralysed." she said more quietly.

Julia's lip trembled "Do you mean…" she began "-that he won't walk _again_?" she asked the nurse, looking seriously and fearfully in her eyes.

The nurse shook her head and smiled to Julia sadly "Unfortunately, he won't." she said.

"But he _will_ get better?" Julia asked her quickly when they turned around the corner.

"Yes," the nurse said "-the worst is already over for him." and she smiled and stopped in front of the door to a new ward "Flight Officer Blythe Ford is on the last bed number twenty five at the window." and she opened the door in front of shaking Julia.

She smiled at her weakly, not being able to feel her body at all "Thank you, nurse." she whispered and came inside rather slowly. Julia looked at the bed number twenty five and she felt like her heart is going to pop out of her chest. She gave out a small cry, and tears started flowing down her cheeks like small rivers of unshowed emotions.

It was certainly Blythe, lying there on the bed. Although he was very pale, and his eyes were closed, as he was sleeping. His black curls were still black and his face seemed unchanged, apart from the small scar across his left cheek. And his face was an act of silence and peace.

Julia sat down by him and touched his cold hands which were in contrast with her own boiling hot hands. She never thought that she could feel like that. She felt as if every emotion touched her soul all at once and that she wanted to cry, laugh, shout and sing at the same moment. It was as if her whole world divided into two, into what was before that day, and into what will be after that day.

"Blythe…" she whispered tenderly and patted his hand again to wake him up. Although she felt quite guilty for doing so, she couldn't resist it. Blythe opened his eyes slowly and looked at Julia. His grey-eyes suddenly went wide open and Julia could his his old-self reflected in them.

" _Julia_!" he gasped and smiled to her in a way she never saw him smiling before. He smiled as if the whole world's mysteries were resolved in those few seconds time since their eyes met. Julia nodded and helplessly threw her arms on him, giving him kisses on his entire face, and hands, sobbing with tears of happiness which were also strimming down Blythe's very own cheeks. "You came." he said and squeezed her hand gently, trying to acknowledge the fact that Julia really _was_ sitting next to him.

"I had to." she replied softly and sat down on her chair, still holding his hand in her own "Blythe, I got a telegram just yesterday. Please tell me how are you feeling and doing, and _everything_?" she asked him breathlessly.

He chuckled quietly "I'm feeling quite weak, not very tired, not _now_." he smiled at her knowingly "You are just the person I wanted to see today." he said and dryed off the tears from his pale face.

Julia managed a tiny smile "Blythe, I heard about your legs." she said eventually and looked at his face with a heartbreak reflecting in her eyes.

He sighed and looked at the wall in front of him "I know, Sheba." he replied and looked back at her with a bitter smile "It was a shock at first of course, but…" he looked straight into Julia's eyes "I'm not grieving. It's just the beggining of a diffrent life for me." he said.

Julia smiled at him with relief and tears forming in her eyes again "Yes, that's right, and don't you dare think about it in any other way." she said and squeezed his hand.

"And I'm so happy that I can now go back home." he said and sighed happily "The doctor told me that I can go back in February." small wrinkles appeared under his eyes when he smiled.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Julia gasped and kissed Blythe's hand cheerfully "I'm _so_ greatful." she said and smiled at him.

"How are you, _you_ dear Bathsheba?" he asked her softly.

"I'm fine." she said quickly with a sudden hint of nervousness in her voice "I'm very, _very_ fine."

Blythe smiled at her warmly "That's good." he answered "You can never tell from someone's letters if they're really fine or not."

"That's true, although I always liked writing and receiving letters, you can keep them forever even if, later on, you'll forget about them." she replied.

Blythe's face lightened up "Talking of letters…" he said slowly and looked in Julia's eyes meaningfully "I got your _love_ letter a day before I got wounded."

Julia caught her breath and her hands started shaking. She looked as deep as she could into Blythe's eyes, and she didn't have to go too deep to see something of a gleam she was waiting to see for so long. "You… _did_?" she breathed out eventually, looking incredibly pale, almost as pale as Blythe.

Blythe took Julia's both hands in his and looked at her seriously "Yes, I did." he said finally "Julia, is it _all_ true what you wrote to me?" he asked her and Julia thought that this gleam from his eyes vanished completely.

"Yes, it is. Every word I wrote in that letter comes from the deepest part of my soul." she whispered lovingly and her eyes were full of tears again "But I suppose that I've been stupid writing it to you. You are _engaged_ to Cornelia! And I said to you five years ago that I can _never_ love you in that way, how could I expect you to love me back once again…" she started her speech in a breaking voice.

Blythe listened to everything she was saying, his breathing was clearly irregular and his hands were getting warmer and warmer. "Sheba," he stopped her and squeezed her hands " _Stop_ talking." he demanded in a voice which seemed oddly nervous.

Julia stopped indeed, rather surprised at the tone of his voice, and looked at Blythe questioningly "What is it?" she asked him.

"You are right," he started "You can't expect me to love you once _again_ after telling me that you can never love me back." Julia let out a small cry but tried very hard to hold it back. Her heart was beating faster and faster and her face got, this time, quite red, the very shade of her hair. "And it's because…" he said again, this time smiling, his eyes twinkling in this weird and unkonwn way for Julia "I never stopped loving you so how can I love you once _again_ when I already do?"

Julia stopped crying instantly and looked up to see Blythe's face radiating with passion, affection and… _love_ , just like it did once on the Christams Day back in 1939. "You… _what_?" Julia breathed out and she stood up from her chair just to sit down on his bed, by his side.

He chuckled light-heartedly "Julia," he said with a smile "-I broke off the engagement with Cornelia four days before I got shot in the back. I could never marry her because the _only_ person I will ever love enough to marry is _you_."

" _Me_?" Julia asked breathlessly with the most radiating smile that had ever appeared on her lips.

" _You_ , Julia Una Blythe." he whispered and put his hand on her cheek tenderly "Please let me hear you saying that you love me."

She leaned towards him gracefully "I love _you_ , Blythe Ford. Very _very_ much." she whispered lovingly and they both laughed together, touching each other's cheeks, swimming in their own small happiness. And then, of course, Blythe kissed her. And it wasn't a kiss Julia had ever experienced before. It was more dear, more intimate, more romantic and much more true than any other kiss she had ever experienced before with Troy. It just felt so _right_ to feel his lips pressed on her own!

The both of them couldn't really believe in what was happening and if someone would ask them about what was coming through their heads in that very moment, they wouldn't be able to answer it. It was a real Book of Revelation opening before them, and they read its first page with hungry eyes, and smiling faces.

"Julia?" Blythe asked when Julia sat down in her chair again, not letting go of Blythe's hand for a second.

"Yes, _my_ dear?" she said, thrilled to bones that she could call Blythe, her 'dear'.

"Will you do me the greatest honour of my life and become my wife?" he asked her in a gentle yet very passionate way.

Julia smiled at him adoringly "I will." she said making the both of them the happiest couple in the whole world.

Blythe kissed Julia's hand again "Would you rather marry me if I could walk again?" he asked her worryingly, while looking at his still legs under the hospital's duvet.

"Blythe, I would marry you if you didn't have any legs or arms at all, as long as your _soul_ remained the same." she said affectionately, and she leaned towards him and kissed his nose tenderly.

He smiled at her and sighed with relief "You know that it will be more difficult for us because of this." he said again.

"I don't mind, as long as I will have you by my side, wherever I go." she whispered to him, as if she was telling him a secret.

"And I always _will_ be by your side, no matter what." he gave the secret back and kissed his bride-to-be once more, this time really believing that it wasn't just a dream, but the most beautiful reality.

* * *

Julia spent the whole day talking with Blythe about all the little things they weren't sure if they could talk about with each other during the war, they talked about the past, present and their future together. They cried out all of their tears they had been holding back ever since the beggining of the war. They held hands together, they kissed each other, laughed and joked like never before, not looking at the clock on the wall at all.

They parted with light and faithful hearts, counting minutes to the next time they would see each other again. Blythe gave Julia five poems he had been hiding for five years from everyone. These poems were called the " _Bathsheba's Eyes_ " and inside them, Blythe described how she turned him, so unexpectedly, from a boy into a grown-up man with dreams and hopes for the future. Julia declared to Blythe that she would never show these poems to anyone, becasue in her opinion "they are as sacred as a secret is".

" _I caught my train very late in the evening._ " Julia wrote in her diary the day after " _But I didn't mind, I could_ never _mind it, even if I tried. And I didn't feel tired, not a whit. How could I? After a day as wonderful as that one?_ _It seems to me as if that day which Blythe and I spent together, drew us both so close in spirit, that a very special bond between us created. I have never felt anything like this before and so I know that it must be, simply,_ love _._ _Because after all, love is quite simple. When you first drink from it, you will always remember its taste, and the feeling that overwhelmed you after drinking it._

 _"I will become Mrs Ford as soon as the war will end and when I'll come back to Glen. Blythe will be already there, waiting for me. Oh, how_ sweet _it sounds! He will wait for me, for_ me _, not for Cornelia or anyone else, just for_ me _._

 _"Only today I realised that I could never possibly had loved Troy because he didn't see me in the same light as Blythe sees me. Troy has never called me Bathsheba, I realised, he always referred to me as Julia, or my love, never Bathsheba and so who I really am, or rather what my spirit is._ _But Blythe loves me after all these years, this crazy and wild girl I am. He can see through me and he can hear me through silence and through the greatest noise, and only he can do this._

 _"And_ I _love him, I understand him and I would do_ anything _for him. I never truly believed that a love like this exists, but it does and it shows itself to me so clearly now._

 _"Olive and Niall are so happy for me. Olive, before I could say anything, shortly after she saw my face she said: "Well, future-Mrs-Ford, how was Blythe today?", so my face probably changed during that day, for better I'm sure._ _All I can hope for them now, is to find the love I found that day, the unconditional love which you can beat and shatter, but you can never kill it, for it is only in our souls and can't be seen by a person who never drank from the Fountain of Love which_ I _tasted just yesterday."_


	28. Surprises

**Chapter XXVII**

 _Dear Juliet,_

 _Jesus, Mary and Joseph, you and_ Blythe _are engaged! To each other! This is just the craziest thing I have ever heard in my life! I congratulate you both of course, don't get me wrong, I couldn't be any happier really, I love you both so much and just wish you all of the happiness in the world._ _I have never thought that you two will eventually end up together, and apparently neither did our family. We all thought that, after all, Blythe will marry Cornelia and you would find yourself a handsome soldier somewhere in this Rouen of yours._

 _But I'm glad that you two love each other as deeply as you wrote you do. I can't even think about Blythe not being able to walk again, it's_ impossible _I'm telling you, he's so happy (he wrote me a long letter, you know) I'm sure that he will stand up from his wheelchair and take you in his loving arms!_

 _Sheba, when your parents told us the news from the telegram that you sent, your Mother trembled to hold back her tears, she knew how much it meant to you, and your Father's voice was so moving I got goose bumps._ _Aunt Rilla said: "My Blythe? A husband to Jem's-girl… Why didn't I think of ot_ earlier _?" and everyone laughed of course._ _Grandpa Meredith felt better again (you know he still feels quite weak after his long illness) and he laughed with us. Grandmother Blythe had a "sense of dreaminess" as you call it, all day that day. Even my little Jackie kept asking me: "Who's getting married, Mummy?"._

 _Well, as you probably noticed by now, I am positively thrilled for you and Blythe, of course. I always thought you two were meant for each other and this only proves me right, doesn't it?_ _Anyway, dearest of all Bathsheba, I wish you a very happy New Year of 1945, and hopefully it will bring you joy, happiness and the shining wedding bells._

 _I have to go now and help Mother with the cooking._

 _Take care darling,_

 _Always yours,_

 _Anna Rosemary Richardson (your old Rose)_

 _P.S. You ask me about my John; he is perfectly fine, thank you. And he told me in his last letter that he thinks that the war is going to an end. We all hope so, and we all pray every night for this to happen._

* * *

 _Dear Julia,_

 _You've probably heard it millions of times now, but I will say it anyway; Congratulations on your engagement with Blythe!_ _I can't believe that you two will really be married, I won't say that I never failed in hoping that you_ will _especially after so many years of you almost crying out for him to be heard._ _I am really, really glad and I wish you all the best in the world, especially because it's the very first day of New Year already. And New Years' are for wishing each other things, aren't they?_

 _I have some news to tell you. Very happy news to be precise; Lewis and I are expecting our first baby._ _Yes, I am pregnant and couldn't feel more wonderful about it. Lewis is simply over the moon and can't stop talking about it. Grandmama is pleased, at last, and even_ made _herself to congratulate us._ _I am due in July this year, and I already bought a sweet little cot for my baby, Lewis thinks that I'm "positively impossible" by buying it so quickly but I can't resist it (you'll know it soon enough!)._

 _Well, I'm afraid it's the last thing I have to tell you, and besides I really do have to get back to preparing dinner for Lewis, he will be home in an hour._

 _I do hope that you're still safe out there, near the Rouen?_

 _Make sure to write to me as often as you possibly can._

 _Yours,_

 _Claire Anderson_

* * *

The war was going slowly to an end and everyone in the small military camp in Rouen could feel it and sense it. Julia and Olive were now nursing with wide smiles on their faces, counting days till the end of each month, thinking that the war could end at anytime, and so they could start the countdown.

Niall still had lots to do around the camp but was still spending every evening together with Julia and Olive. Many years later they would all reflect on the first months of 1945 thinking of them as "the time of their lives" because of their joking, singing and dancing together day by day, welcoming each day with excitement and joy, like they always did _but_ before the war started.

"Do you think that there really is a difference between the French girls and the English girls?" Olive asked on one warm afternoon in the first days of February.

"What do you mean?" Julia asked her curiously.

"I mean that there are so many people talking about the French girls and how beautiful they are. Do you really think that there's a difference?" she asked looking at both Julia and Niall sitting opposite to her.

Julia and Niall chuckled together "I don't think there is." Julia said honestly.

"Well, I heard that the French girls have got different facial features, or whatever you call them these days." Niall said and smiled at the two of his friends.

Olive giggled "Yes, that's what _I_ think. But do _you_ think they are prettier than us, the English girls?" Olive asked Niall pointing at her and Julia meaningfully.

"Why are you asking _me_?" he asked her, trying to hide his smile.

"Because you're a _man_." Olive rolled her eyes, making both of her friends laugh again.

"In my opinion, if the girl is beautiful, there's no difference whether she is English or French or Spanish." he replied.

"Just like a man." Julia and Olive said in the same moment and laughed together, looking how Niall's cheeks turned positively pink. Before they knew it, the famous all over their camp, Mrs Tate appeared next to their table in the canteen with a small envelope in her hand.

"Telegram for you, Nurse Blythe." she said sternly and handed her the telegram slowly.

The smile from Julia's face was gone and her eyes were focused only on the small peace of paper she took from Mrs Tate's hand. She gulped, and could feel the eyes of Olive, Niall and Mrs Tate looking straight at her, to see whether the news are good or bad. Julia opened up the telegram and read it outloud: " _There was a gas-shell explosion in our trench. I'm fine but Merry is blinded. - Jake._ "

Olive gasped, Niall put his hand on Julia's shaking shoulder and Mrs Tate whispered: "At least he's alive, dear."

"But he _can't_ see. And he _never_ will." she whispered back.

* * *

 _Dearest sister,_

 _I asked the nurse to write this letter to you, while I will be telling her exactly what to write._ _Don't worry about me, Jules. It is hard to get used to not being able to see anything for the rest of your life again, but I am so enormously happy that I don't have to go back to the trenches again!_ _I think that I'm coping with my blindness just fine, and even the nurses think that I am_ too _happy with the knowledge that I'm not ever going to see again._

 _At least, the good thing is that I won't ever see how my face will look like with all its wrinkles when I'll be old and grumpy. The only thing I actually am concerned about is that I'm not sure what I will do with myself when I come back home._ _I want to get married, believe it or not, and I do want to work on a farm but how can I do that when I can't see if I'm even holding the right thing in my hand?_ _Father sent me a letter and he suggested working with poeple and talking to them, solving their problems, maybe even about farming, something of a 'manager' as he called it, and I would love to try that but… What if it won't work?_

 _Mother says that there's no pressure on me and she is waiting impatiently to see me back at home. The doctor here said that when my burns, which I got on my face, will get better and I will be quite used to being blinded (if I ever will be 'used' to a thing like that), I will be able to go back home, and he thinks it will be somewhere around early July._

 _I didn't even get the chance to congratulate you and Blythe on getting engaged. I'm thrilled to bits that you finally found a way to one another (I told you this, didn't I?). And I wish you two all the best out there in the world, you dear sister._

 _Thank you, Sheba, for keeping your spirits up for me, and for your lovely letter which brought tears into my unseeing eyes._

 _Take care, sweets,_

 _Your loving brother,_

 _Commandant Meredith Blythe_

* * *

On one evening, in the middle of February, Julia had just finished her duty and was making her way with Olive and Niall towards the canteen, talking about Merry's last letter to Julia. She was glad that Merry didn't take his blindness as bad as he could have. She knew that he would think of something for a way of making money for himself, and maybe somewhere in the future, for his own family. Merry was always so strong, and so carefree, Julia thought, but what if he won't be like that anymore? What if the war really touched and changed everyone who had seen its biggest secrets which weren't known to everyone around the world?

Julia didn't have much time to think more about those frustrating questions as suddenly, from behind, she heard the most delightful voice which she would recognise even if she would become entirely deaf. "Is this _my_ Nurse Julia Una Blythe?" a fammiliar laughing voice said. Julia's eyes widened and she turned around with a huge smile on her face, not quite believeing in the voice she just heard.

"Oh, _Blythe_!" Julia gasped and ran towards the man with black curls, sitting in the wheelchair with smiling grey eyes.

"I knew it was you!" he said and kissed Julia's lips once again.

"What are you doing here?" Julia asked him happily "You are meant to be leaving for Canada today!"

"That's true." he replied "And that's why I came here to say some sweet goodbyes to you, my Sheba." he grinned at her.

"Oh, I'm so happy that you did, Blythe!" Julia exclaimed and just then she realised that Olive and Niall were waiting for her to be introduced to her fiancee " _Oh_! I'm sorry! This is my Blythe, and these two are my Olive and best chum Niall." she said warmly.

Olive shook Blythe's hand energetically "We meet, at last!" she said.

"Eventually!" Blythe replied and chuckled at the way Olive shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet the man who _could_ win over Julia's heart." Niall said with a funny smirk crossing his face.

"Oh, yes, I _do_ get the joke, and I must agree with you on that." Blythe said and squeezed Julia's hand knowingly. Both men smiled at heach other, as the people who know the race of Joseph do.

"Well, we'll leave you two love-birds alone, then." Olive said with a smile "No objections Bath, thank you very much! We will meet again, Mr Ford, I am _sure_ about that!" she bowed in front of them and the four of them laughed together.

"We sure will." Blythe agreed and waved to Niall and Olive as they walked away towards the canteen.

"How are you, dear Blythe?" Julia asked him and sat on his knees, ready to hear his sweet voice in her ears again.

"Oh, everything is just fine." he said joyfully and then looked in her eyes more seriously "I'm more concerned about how your brother, Merry, is." he said slowly, with a hint of heartbreak reflecting in his eyes.

Julia's smile came off her face at once, and she sighed heavily "He says that he's fine but it's quite hard to believe it, to be honest. The night when I learned the news, I simply couldn't sleep at all." she said and put a hand on her forehead, trying to hold back her tears.

Blythe drew her closer and she put her head against his chest "If he's fine now, then he _will_ be fine. And I will make sure of it as soon as he comes back home." he said and grinned to Julia who grinned back, feeling that Blythe must be right about that.

She nodded gently and put her hand on his chin tenderly, looking in his eyes "Yes, and then…" Julia gasped suddenly and sat straight up "Did you hear the _news_?" she asked him with shining eyes.

"I did." Blythe smiled at her "Isn't it wonderful that Walt's little Julienne and Cilia's Knox were born on the same day?" he said.

"Oh," she gasped again "-it's _so_ thrilling! And Walt named his daughter for _me_ … I feel so very honoured." her cheeks flushed with red and she laughed.

"I completely agree with Walt on doing so, not mentioning that Julienne is a very elegant name itself." he said and poked Julia in the arm playfully.

She grinned at him "Maybe little Julienne and Knox will be made for each other one day?" she asked dreamily.

"I hope so, but," Blythe replied "-they will never be as perfect for each other as we are right now, my darling." and with that he kissed the woman of his dreams with passion and most importantly… love.

* * *

Julia said her farewells to Blythe two hours later, promising him that she would write to him whenever she would be able to and Blythe promising that he will do the same. They parted with no tears or sadness but with smiles on their faces and sweet dreams beggining to appear in their minds.

"Julia, when are you two going to get married?" Olive asked her when the two of them were getting ready to go to sleep.

Julia smiled at her wonderingly "As soon as the war will end." she replied "Blythe said today that as soon as he will be back in Canada, he will search for a job as an English Literature Professor and of course, for a home for _us_." she grinned at the very thought of the house that both she and Blythe would be living in, _together_.

"That's so _romantic_!" Olive gasped and sighed happily "I _will_ come to your wedding, you know. Whether you like it _or_ not!" she said, pretending to be serious.

"You better be!" Julia said in the same tone as her "Someone will have to eat all the food my family is going to prepare!" and the two of them ended up talking till the clock stroked midnight.


	29. Coming Back

**Chapter XXVIII**

The second week of May had just started, and the days were getting warmer and warmer with every passing day. The spirits of people all around the world were getting higher and higher ever since the Hitler's suicide a month earlier.

Blythe was already in Glen with his family for three months, and was searching for a job all over the Island. Gilly was moved to France, being terribly tired of the war already and talking of nothing else but the way to stop it. His brother Owen was "quite alright" on the Atlantic, and his cousin Jake was still in the trenches in Italy. However his sister Leslie started smoking cigarettes, to the horror of her family, and dancing with all the possibly "free" soldiers out there in London, "enjoying herself to bits". Julia, Olive and Niall had less work than ever since the beggining of the war, and that itself was giving them more and more hope that maybe, although they were even too afraid to think those words in their minds, maybe the war really _was_ close to an end.

On one special day, when the sun was shining high on the sky which was almost completely cloudless, General Knowles came proudly and happily into Julia's ward where she was working that day. He brought a carefree blow of wind inside, the blow which could be felt in every corner of the ward, which could be felt by each soldier and nurse inside it, the blow of wind which all of them would always remember as a reminder of a victory they all achieved.

Julia, Olive and everyone else looked in the direction of where General Knowles was standing and everyone waited for him to say what was going on, fearing that something bad could have happened. "Listen everybody!" his clear voice filled up the "newly-arrived" ward "The Germans surrendered! The war is _over_!" and he put his hand high in the air with a small telegram inside its grasp.

Julia put her hands on her mouth as she felt that her eyes filled up with warm tears of joy. She screamed happily first and was followed by all the other nurses and soldiers in her ward and could hear the shoutings from the other wards as well. It seemed as if even the birds started singing again, and the world was covered with peace and love again.

How strange it all felt! The whole world seemed to hold nothing but agony and horror for not just Julia but for each of the people around her just a few second earlier, and it suddenly turned into a world of peace and tranquility which they all forgot about after the long six years of this journey which touched each of their souls one way or another. But oh, it felt good, it felt _good_!

Julia kissed the soldier, whom she was nursing, twice on each cheek causing them both to turn positively fiery. She looked around her, searching for her friends somewhere in the crowds. She finally spotted Olive and she was… She was… Julia gasped. Olive was _k_ _issing_ Niall! Straight on the lips! And he was kissing her _back_! "How wonderful!" Julia breathed out and laughed so merrily that even Mrs Tate joined in when she came to pat Julia on her back gently but still meaningfully.

"Everything is going to be alright now, Nurse Blythe." she said to her warmly with smile crossing her face, while both she and Julia were looking at all the other nurses and soldiers talking, laughing and singing together.

Julia looked at Mrs Tate and dryed off her tears of happiness from her cheeks "Yes, for the first time in six years I can finally be certain about that." she said.

* * *

 _Dearest Blythe,_

 _I wish you were here with me today. We had a real party, probably not as huge as the one on the streets of London, but surely just as much joyful._ _We danced all afternoon, now it's one o'clock in the morning but I don't_ care _, I had to write to you and tell you everything!_

 _The War is finally over! It is Over, written with a capital "O". The time of death, pain, suffering and heartbreak we all experienced for the past six years of our lives is now replaced with the time of life, blessing, joy and love and let us keep them all always on the same table near the flowers of peace._

 _Olive and Niall got engaged today, too. Olive cries all the time because of both the end of the war and her engagement, I know it is becasue of how happy she is but it_ is _getting quite annoying, it must be said! Niall still gazes at her with his loving blue eyes which are overfilled with love he could never show to me (and I'm so grateful that he couldn't!)._ _They want to get married in July, as soon as we all can go back home. Yes, dearest of all Blythes in the world, I will come back home in late June! Can you believe it? It's just two months to go!_

 _And then I'm all_ yours _._

 _Leslie wrote me a telegram today, I'm sure you got one too but I'll say it anyway, and she's coming back to P.E.I in four days time! Lucky,_ lucky _girl! Thankfully she won't bring a killingly handsome British soldier with her, or otherwise your Mother would probably get a heart attack!_

 _I got a beautiful picture last week, with the youngest ones of our new generation; Jackie (who is almost four-years-old!), sweet Julienne and a very good-looking Knoxie._ _Julienne really looks just like Walt, with her brown locks and hazel eyes, and this funny little nose. Wheras Knoxie is the sweetest little baby-boy I have ever seen in my life!_ _And Jackie, of course, who gets more and more handsome with every year. I understand now why Rose is so excited for John to finally meet his son!_

 _You asked me about your job proposition and I think that you should definitely accept it. I know it's in White Sands and so two hours away from Glen but I think you should accept it anyway. You always wanted to be an English Literature Professor in the university which_ isn't _the Redmond College._

 _I just wanted to let you know that whether you will like it or not, my darling, I will want to work as a midwife in whatever place we will move to. As much as I love my job as a nurse, I really have to get some more joy from my work and being a midwife will allow me to witness a great joy and the beginning of life and not death with which I have been working for for the past five years of my life._

 _We really_ are _going to get married, aren't we? Isn't it such a weird thought, beautiful and very romantic of course, but weird! I would laugh if someone would tell me six years ago that I will gladly marry you. It seems that you really are the only person who_ can _tame me. My dear Blythe, I am very ready to become your wife, I am sure about_ that _. How much I would love to kiss you right now! Do you have any idea how much I wanted to kiss you when I saw Olive kissing Niall today, when we heard that the war was eventually over? But I will stop whining, after all, I will become your wife in a few months' time!_

 _Goodness, it's half past one! And I have to get up in four hours!_

 _Sweet dreams my lovely Mr Ford,_

 _Forever Yours (and_ only _Yours),_

 _Nurse Julia Una Blythe_

* * *

 _My darling girl,_

 _Everyone is over the moon not only because of the ending of the war but also because… surprise, surprise: Jake, Gilly and Leslie are safetly home!_ _Jake and Gilly made us all a big and wonderful surprise and came together three days ago. You can imagine faces of my parents, Aunt Nan's and Uncle Jerry's! Simply undescribable._ _They arranged the "surprise homecoming" two weeks ago when both of them sent us letters that they are going to get home in the middle of June. "Little liars!" that's how Rose greeted her brother and a cousin._

 _They didn't change at all on the insides, not really. Gil is still the crazy dancer and joker but very much in love with his Faye who, from the picture which Gilly showed me, looks positively radiating!_ _Talking of Faye, she is supposed to come to Canada in November and just three days after there is going to be their wedding._

 _Going back to Jake, he is a bit more quiet than he was before the war, but other than that (and the long scar going through his neck) he is the same as he was the last time I've seen him. When he took his violin in his hands, he cried, Julia, he_ cried _._ _And then when he played… If only you could hear it! It was like the song of summer, so wild and passionate, yet very sensitive and as free as the wind._

 _Leslie, well, she didn't change one single bit. Not at all, except for her smoking habit which I detest just as much as our Mother._ _You won't believe it but I noticed that Jake is making sheep's eyes at Leslie! My sister! Do you think it's possible? They are so different… I'm sure of one thing though, that Leslie is_ not _in love with him. Another tragic love-story, isn't it? I just hope it will have a happy-ending, just like ours has._

 _Sheba, I did as you told me, and accepted the job in White Sands. Now I am looking for a house of our own there… "House of our own", doesn't it sound so promising and simply wonderful?_ _Darling, if you want to work as a midwife, I have no objections at all. You know that I'm definitely not the kind of a man who would want his wife to stay at home and do God-knows-what all day, while she desperately wants to work. I promise you that I will have a look in White Sands and ask at some of the hospitals if you can join there as a midwife._

 _There is one more thing to tell you; Owen is going back home as planned, in the middle of June. I don't think he would make a surprise homecoming too, knowing his personality._

 _I have a meeting in White Sands today again; I will visit the four-bedroom house near, I heard, the fields full of sunflowers (doesn't it sound delightful?). My Dad will come with me of course, someone has to push my wheelchair anyway._

 _Darling,_ darling _girl of mine, don't tell me of how much you want to kiss me, you have no idea how much I desperately want to kiss you, and always wanted to ever since I was sixteen years old (was it really eight years ago?). Gilly and Jake tease me about my engagement to you, as they always thought that I would marry Cornelia at the end. Such wonderful cousins we have, don't we?_

 _Dear, I think about you every day, and every night, each passing minute and each passing second and I count hours to that bright, sunny day in late June, when I will be able to see you dancing between the flowers again._

 _I wish I could write more today, but I truly have to get ready now._

 _Enjoy your day, and could you please make the clock go faster a bit and then slow down the moment you come home, to_ me _?_

 _Your very own,_

 _Blythe Ford_

* * *

Surprisingly, the 25th of June arrived very quickly and Julia, Olive and Niall were all going back home. Julia and Olive spent a whole night before talking about their dreams, dancing together, singing "their" songs which they used to sing in the shelter in the small hospital in London, during the Blitz. And, of course, together they made promises to each other. "I know that you won't be at my wedding with Niall." Olive said when both of them were lying together on Julia's bed, holding each other's hands tightly.

Julia sighed "Yes, but _you_ have to go to my wedding, dearest Olive." she said and smiled at her with twinkling eyes.

"Of course I will!" she replied energetically "I would never miss it for the world!" and then her voice quietened a bit "Bath, do you think that it will be fine, with, you know, Blythe-not-walking?" she asked her shyly.

"Of _course_ it will be fine." Julia said without any doubt in her voice "I don't even _think_ about it. I know it will be a different life than what I imagined it to be, maybe more difficult at times, but yet I think it will make us even closer to each other, you know?" she said with this shadow of a tender smile creeping upon her lips.

"And so, I'm _very_ happy for you!" Olive said with a joyful sigh, but Julia could see how the small tears started forming in her black eyes.

"Olive _Jones_! Don't you dare!" Julia warned her.

"But I must!" Olive protested as small tears started running down her cheeks, but she couldn't help laughing at the same time.

"Save your tears for tomorrow!" Julia said again, pretending to be very serious but failing with every second.

"But my make-up will come off then!" Olive said and the tears started coming out of her eyes even quicker. Julia bursted out laughing, and Olive quickly followed her example. And so the two bosom friends cuddled up together, and didn't even realise when their eyes closed and both of them fell asleep.

* * *

"For the very first time in my life, I see you three in casual clothes instead of uniforms!" Mrs Tate greeted Julia, Olive and Niall as they came over to her office to say their final goodbyes.

Julia looked positively beaming. She wore her old navy-blue pleated dress with her brooch in a shape of a rose which she inherited from her Mother eight years earlier. She also put on her best black hat in which she looked like a real movie-star. Olive looked better than ever, with her flowing green dress with gold belt around her waist and her "country-hat", as she called it which was just a lovely straw-hat. Niall couldn't keep his eyes off Olive, and she couldn't keep her eyes off Niall, for he looked positively handsome in his grey suit and a black hat on his head.

"Well, children, I wish you all the best in the world, and who knows maybe we shall meet again, one day?" Mrs Tate gave each of them a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I have a feeling that we will, Mrs Tate." Julia said warmly. And so the three of them left the small military camp near Rouen with gleam of many memories in their eyes and the sweet feeling in their hearts of the new world awaiting them just around the corner.

The train station in Rouen was very crowded, and it seemed as if every soldier and a nurse was going back home that day. Julia caught the same train as Olive and Niall did, a train to the port in Calais, and just as suddenly they found themselves in the moment they all dreaded the most of all; they had to go their own separate ways. "Oh, Julia, we were seeing each other for every day, except for the Christmas periods, for _five_ years of our lives, and I promise you that our friendship will _never_ fade." Olive said through the tears which came even though Olive swore they wouldn't.

"I promise you that I will write to you, twice a week, and I promise that I _will_ visit you one day in England, I have to show Blythe my dear old London anyway." Julia chuckled bitterly and put Olive quickly into a tight hug.

"I love you, Bath." Olive whispered into Julia's ear "And I _won't_ say goodbye, becasue I will see you in a two months time. At _your_ wedding." she said with a small smirk on her bright face.

"Yes, you will." Julia replied softly and kissed Olive's cheek "And I love you too, Olive Jones, my dearest kindred spirit." she whispered.

"And what about _me_?" Niall demanded with a grin.

Julia turned to him and put her hands on his cheeks gently "And I love you, Niall Harris. Maybe not in the way you once wanted me to, but I _do_ love you a great deal as my friend." she whispered and tears started flowing down her red cheeks for good.

"And I love you, Julia, in a way I _should_." Niall chuckled wistfully "Take care of yourself." he said caringly and squeezed her hand.

"I will." she relied softly "And most of all, take care of this beautiful lady over here." she took Olive's hand and winked at her knowingly.

"All aboard for the ship which goes to Canada!" the voice of a crew-man filled up the noisy air. Julia embraced both of her friends at once, not saying a single word. She wanted to _breathe_ them both in, to remember them as they were in that moment; young, optimistic, full of life and love dearest friends to one another. After all, Julia thought, they would always have those sweet memories about the years gone by till the rest of their lives.

"I'll see you soon then!" Julia said eventually and took her suitcases in her hands, being ready to go aboard at last.

"See you soon, _Bathsheba_!" Niall and Olive shouted back together and started waving to her for as long as they could see the small dot of her ship on the horizon, until it disappeared completely from their sight.


	30. Reunions

**Chapter XXIX**

" _It is such a lovely thing, the view of the ocean springing up before your eyes,_ " Julia thought to herself after the first night which she spent on the ship " _It almost seems like a completely different world, on a completely different planet._ "

The sun was shining high between the clouds, making the waves of the Atlantic Ocean look like pure liquid gold which everyone can drink from. Julia was outside, looking at its beauty and enjoying the breeze coming from it by closing her eyes and opening them up again after few seconds. She was doing it every day, imagining the moment when she would see her homeland again. It was so nice to be dreaming seeing her home and her family again, without the fear of not knowing when this dream might become a reality!

One day, she couldn't dream for a long time, as suddenly the peace which surrounded her, was broken by the group of four boy-soldiers who just ran from the inside of the ship straight into Julia's favourite spot. She opened her eyes quickly and was almost angry that the soldiers came there with all their joking and shoutings. But then she realised that they were also Canadian soldiers coming back home, just like her, and she even smiled at them.

Then she realised that they weren't just 'ordinary' soldiers, they were all wounded; two of the boys had their heads bandaged, the third one had an empty sleeve of his uniform, and the fourth one… Oh, the _fourth_ one! " _Merry_?" Julia whispered breathlessly. It _was_ Merry. Julia thought that she would never be able to recognise him, after he was blinded, with all the burns on his face and his eyes so blank and so not alive like they once were. But they weren't blank at all! They were as alive and joyful as they always had been!

The only thing about him that changed was this one burn which was covering his right cheek. But it was _still_ Merry. " _Merry_!" Julia shouted out this time, almost screamed. Merry turned to the place where the voice was coming from. All the other boys did the exact same thing and almost gasped when they saw a beautiful, red-headed girl, crying helplessly at the sight of her brother whom she hadn't see in six years.

"Julia?" Merry whispered, not believing in the word he just said. Julia made her way through all the boys, and threw her arms on Merry's neck, kissing his blind eyes and his cheeks and his still red hair.

"Oh, Merry, it _is_ you! It is _you_!" she whispered into his ear. How tall he was! But maybe he was always this tall? She couldn't tell, six years is a long time after all. But _oh_ , how brown his skin was and how strong his arms were!

"Julia, you cut your hair!" he said when he touched Julia's short red curls.

She laughed and looked at his face, putting her hands on his cheeks with greatest tenderness, afraid to touch his face in fear it will break in pain "You see me after six years and that's the first thing you say to me?" Julia chuckled through the tears.

"But you will remember it even more now, won't you?" he chuckled too and put her into a tight hug again "Has it really been six years, Jules?" he asked in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so." Julia said and then suddenly turned to the three boys standing next to her "Could I borrow my brother for a while, please?" she asked them, grinning.

"He's yours, Miss." a boy with an empty sleeve said cheerfully.

"Let's take a long walk, _Miss_ Blythe." Merry whispered to Julia whose arm was already resting on his shoulder.

"Of course, _Mr_ Blythe." she replied.

* * *

And they did take a walk, a very long one, which Julia would remember till the rest of her life. Merry wasn't changed one single bit, and he didn't seem to mind his blindness so much. They talked about their war experience from the perspective of a Commandant, and a VAD. In one word, they finally felt that the war really ended, and the time of peace inhabited the Earth once again.

A few days later, Julia and Merry found themselves catching the train to Glen. It was early in the morning, and Julia was describing to her brother how beautiful Canada looked from the train's window, that morning on the first day of July. Cloudless sky, with shining sun and the wonderful birdsong and summer breeze filling up the air of Prince Edward Island made them both think of nothing else but _home_.

"Merry, we're here." Julia said in disbelief when she saw the train station which she left just three years earlier.

Merry got up immediately "Let's go then." he said with excitement and Julia took her suitcases, Merry took his and hand-in-hand they stepped off the train.

Nobody knew exactly what day Julia or Merry would be coming home, although they staretd expecting them three days earlier already, no one would expect them, _both_ of them, returning to their home and family so soon. But both Merry and Julia took their time and walked slowly home, talking about how glad they were that nothing changed at all in the old Glen, and that all the trees, flowers and even buildings were still the same as they left them.

Eventually they reached the House on the Hill and Julia couldn't hold back her tears, neither could Merry, for that matter. And so Dr James Blythe, who opened the door to them, saw two, homesick, crying faces he had been waited to see for years. "It _can't_ be!" Jem said and grabbed the two of them into his strong arms, kissing each of their faces with greatest happiness "Faith, Cee! Come here _quickly_!" he shouted out, laughing and crying at the same time.

"Jem, I am _cooking_ , for Heaven's sakes, I can't be in both places…." Faith entered the hall with a towel in her hands, waving it madly. She stopped when she saw Julia and Merry standing on her doorstep. "Oh, _my_ babies!" she exclaimed and joined in all the hugs and kisses, her eyes filling up with tears "You are _home_! Oh, this is the most beautiful day of my life!" she said breathlessly between the sobs.

"Daddy, is everything…" Cee came into the hall hurriedly. Cee, who grew up _so_ much, and certainly wasn't a baby anymore! A girl of fifteen with the sweetest dimples and caring, passionate eyes! How tall she was, Julia thought, and mature! "Oh, Julia! Merry!" she cried and was the last addition to the family's reunion.

* * *

One hour later, the Ingleside, the manse, the House of Dreams, the Farm House, the Blue House in Charlottetown and the slightly bigger house in Kingsport were all informed about the arrival of the two missing members of the Blythe family. The House on the Hill was in the very centre of attention that day, and was invaded with all the Blythes, Merediths and Fords from Glen and Four Winds just two hours after the arrival of Julia and Merry.

The grandparents were admiring how mature and lovely both of them looked, and as they were the first ones to arrive for their greeting, they couldn't help but to hug and squeeze the two of them all the time. "You are home now, safe and sound." Grandmother Blythe laughed joyfully "The children of the War." she said and patted Julia's hand which was resting in her own.

"I wouldn't say _children_ , Grandma." Merry said from the other side of the table in their living room "I am twenty-five and Julia is twenty-three." he smiled mischievously.

"Oh, even if you were ninety, you would still be my little boy, Merry, darling." Faith said and kissed her son on the forehead tenderly.

"There's someone knocking on the door." Cee declared when she came out of the kitchen "I think it's the manse folk." she grinned at both her sister and her brother.

Julia gasped, and stood up as if something had pinched her "Rose!" she squeaked when the tall, completely unchanged woman came into the room with a four-year-old Jackie in her arms.

"You dear Juliet o'mine!" she exclaimed and kissed her friend's hands "It's _so_ good to have you back!" Rose looked like a real rose, so fresh and beautiful in her flowing red dress and long brown curls lying on her shoulders. Julia could almost drink her sight in, she missed her _so_ much!

"Oh, and this is the little Jackie! Who is not so _little_ anymore." Julia laughed and patted Jackie's brown curls gently. Jackie smiled at his auntie and before Rose opened her mouth to say anything, she was interrupted by her brother who just came into the room.

"Well, well, _well_ , there she is." Jake came into the room with a funny smile on his face.

"Jake." Julia breathed out and let out a small cry, falling staright into his arms "You didn't change a bit. Except for how brown you got." she whispered and then chuckled.

He laughed as well "That's quite right. And _you_ got even more beautiful than you already were." he winked at her knowingly.

"Thank you." she said gracefully and then there was time for Julia to meet Rose's husband, John, who turned out to be very handsome, extremely elegant and charming. Nan and Jerry greeted their niece and their nephew with tears of joy in their eyes, and almost as soon as they all sat down by the table, there was another knock on the door.

This time, the Shirley's family came in along with the Carl's family. Luna was embraced tightly by Julia, who thought that she had never seen a more real definition of a moon's beauty. Then Merry hugged Luna, and both of them, unoticed by anyone, shivered under the touch of their skin.

Una and Shirley with their grown-up and crazy as ever, daughter Nancy sat on the sofa next to Grandfather Meredith who couldn't stop smiling all the way through the 'ceremony' as he called it. Carl and Di came into the living room with their twelve-year-olds, the "small" Cordelia who grew up to be a beautiful future-biologist like her Father, and Tom who turned out to be a prospering mathematician just like his "dear Uncle Walt".

"Do you know when Walt and Lily will be able to visit?" Julia asked her family when she sat for the third time by the table "I am anxious to meet little Julienne!" she said excitedly.

"When I told Walter that you are back," Jem said, smiling radiantly "He said that because it's the summer-break, he will "pack his family on Friday and bring them here on Saturday"."

"Wonderful!" Julia exclaimed happily "And what about Cilia?" she asked, looking at her Uncle Shirley and Aunt Una.

"She is supposed to come for a week in the first week of August, for your wedding especially." Shirley said and winked at his niece "And you will finally meet our grandson Knox." he grinned at his wife knowingly.

"If he's as sweet and as adorable as he looks in the photographs I got from Cilia, then I'm afraid I will not be able to refrein myself from _eating_ him." Julia said and everyone chuckled. And suddenly, there was a knock on the door, which Julia was awaiting to hear the most of all. The Ford family arrived at the doorstep of the House on the Hill.

The first one who Julia hugged and kissed was the ever so fashionable Leslie who thankfully didn't bring a "killigly handsome British soldier" back home. Then Gilly came into the light and Julia couldn't help but to laugh when she saw him "Well it's the first time in a _long_ time since we haven't seen each other outside the hospital walls!" she said and her whole family laughed again when they hugged each other.

Then it was Uncle Ken and Aunt Rilla to squeeze both Julia and Merry, leaving them almost out of their breaths before sitting down by Faith and Una. "And now, Julia, we have a surprise for you." Gilly said mysteriously and pointed at the door "Come out, you old thing!" he shouted joyfully.

And unexpectadly, Blythe Ford appeared in front of Julia. She put a hand on her mouth and gasped with amazement "You are _walking_!" she exclaimed, not being able to move at all.

Blythe smiled at her lovingly and put his hands on his hips "And so I _will_ take you in my arms!" he declared and he did just that. He stepped towards the laughing Julia, took her in his arms with grace, and kissed her in front of their whole family. Everyone chuckled and clapped until Blythe finally put Julia down on the ground, still holding her hands, and looking deeply into her shining, watery eyes.

"How…?" Julia questioned slowly, looking at Blythe from head to toe.

"Nobody knows." Blythe answered and grinned at her "I started feeling my legs again, a week ago. Uncle Jem examined me and allowed me to try and walk again. And so I did and… there I am." he said and tapped his feet happily.

"I could never be more happy than I am now, in this very moment." Julia whispered through the tears and kissed him once again on the lips, before she let him go and give Merry a brotherly, very warm hug.

And so the 'almost whole family' sat down by the table and listened to all the tales from Julia and Merry's life during the war. Everyone listened carefully, sometimes laughing, sometimes holding their breaths, sometimes even having tears in their eyes. Julia couldn't believe that they were all together again, safe, away from the war and death, and so near love and happiness.

It almost seemed as if she left Glen just a week earlier becasue nothing nor anyone changed. Maybe some of her cousins, and definitely her sister, changed in their looks, but not on thier insides. They were all still a big and loud family from the six years before, who couldn't be more alive than on that day.

"So you will be married in August then?" Rose asked Julia and Blythe while she was sipping the tea from her cup and holding Jackie on her lap.

Blythe looked at Julia and smiled to her dreamily "Yes." he said "And we decided on the 6th."

"But it's just a bit over the month!" Faith protested "How can everything be done in a month?"

"Mother-dear," Julia said to her and patted her shoulder gently "You and I know exactly well that it can. And it _will_ be done in a month's time." she said decidedly.

Faith smiled back at her daughter "If the bride-to-be says so, then it must be done!" she said and the chuckle spread across the room.

"Merry, did _you_ meet any pretty girls during those six years?" Leslie asked him suddenly, with a shadow of a smile forming on her lips.

"Not really, no." he replied quite absent-mindedly "Besides who would ever love enough to marry a man who can't see nor work properly, with those horrible burns on his face?" he said almost in despair. Everyone fell silent and looked at him worringly. Julia felt how her heart was breaking under the sadness which appeared on his face so suddenly. She had never seen Merry, _her_ Merry, so concerned with his mind being far _far_ away in the land she didn't know about. That's when she realised that that was this one thing that was changed in his voice, the lack of certainty for the bright future of which he was always so sure about.

"I would." said the quiet voice from the corner of the room. Everyone turned their heads towards the sound.

"Luna?" Merry was the first to say.

Julia's eyes, and everybody else's widened in surprise. Luna, the most shy of the family, who could never speak about her feelings, now declared her love to Merry, surrounded by her _entire_ family! And Merry knew her voice immediately! Nobody did, but Merry _did_ although he couldn't see. But he could _feel_. Julia felt how her heart started to beat quickly and she put her hand on her chest as she felt that she was about to cry.

"Merry, I've always loved you." Luna's quiet but strong voice spoke up again.

Merry's face changed from the tired and a heartbroken one to a face of a man who just discovered that life, after all, can be beautiful "And I've always loved _you_." he replied breathlessly.

Luna, shaking all over her body, stood up from her chair and ran across the living room to Merry's open arms. Julia put her hand on her mouth and gasped, trying to hold back her attack of crying. Blythe touched her hand knowingly under the table and she looked at him with watery eyes. "Luna, will you have me? With all my blindness, and burns and craziness?" Merry asked the crying woman in his arms.

"With all of my heart and soul!" she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Everyone started clapping and whooping when the two of them shared their first kiss. Julia thought that she had never felt so moved in her life, and therefore she kissed her Blythe, thinking that life really couldn't get any more beautiful than this.


	31. Roses Of Tomorrow

**Chapter XXX**

Two weeks later, Owen Ford arrived at the Glen's train station and had been greeted by his whole family. He changed in looks, he got more mature on the face and looked much more handsome than anyone had ever thought he would. To everyone's surprise he even got a bit more talkative, which was just the sign that he wasn't affected by the war all together in the bad way.

Walt, Lily and little Julienne arrived the day after Owen, and Julia couldn't stop hugging her little namesake from that day on. Julia couldn't believe that she could be in Lily's position in a just few years time, having a little roly-poly baby in her own arms, and kissing it just as much as she liked to kiss little Julienne.

Walt also didn't change, even though he was walking with his wooden leg, he was still Julia's loving, poetic and funny older brother whom she loved so much. On the evening Walt and his family arrived at the House on the Hill, Julia, Merry and Walt spent the whole afternoon together, in Rainbow Valley talking over everything they missed out of each other's lives for the past six years of their lives.

Cilia arrived earlier than planned, making another surprise-homecoming. Julia met her little Knoxie, who looked just like his proud father Marshall, who was now a very well-known surgeon in Charlottetown.

Merry got a job in town as a manager of the Rogers' Farm, a position which Troy was supposed to get if he would have lived. And therefore, Merry and Luna decided on getting married in October. And so the family of Blythes, Fords and Merediths was happy again. They thought they would never be so happy, but they _were_ , and they were all impatiently awaiting all the weddings which were supposed to happen one after the other that year. Even Cornelia was happy, and she didn't blame neither Blythe nor Julia for her broken engagement. She found love somewhere else, with a boy called Joshua Shepstone, who was her neighbour whole her life, and waited for her as patiently as Blythe waited for Julia.

All was well, eventually.

On one warm morning, two weeks before Julia's and Blythe's wedding, Julia woke up early and decided on going to Rainbow Valley, which was and always would be her favourite spot in the whole world. She left a note for her parents on the table in the kitchen, then she got into her old riding suite, put on her even older red scarf, and jumped on River's back who knew exactly where to go.

She galloped through the fields with her hair, although short, flowing in the air, and her bright scarlet cheeks, straight into the Rainbow Valley which could never, no matter what would happen, could never change nor loose its magical spirit of the ghosts from the past and maybe even the ghosts of the future.

Blythe Ford was sitting under the White Lady, looking at all the photographs he had ever got from his Julia, which helped him greatly during the war, and during the most fearful situations he had been in. He enjoyed the peacefulness of this sacred place but wasn't at all disappointed when this peacefulness was broken by...

"Blythe!"

He lifted up his head under the photograph of Julia receiving a Royal Red Cross medal, and saw his Bathsheba jumping off the back of her horse, looking even more dashing than she had ever did before. He stood up immediately and put her in his arms "What are you up to, Julia o'mine?" he asked her with a raised brow.

"Oh, I suppose I could ask you the same question!" she said laughingly and Blythe chuckled.

"Well," he replied and the both of them sat down under the White Lady "I felt that I just couldn't miss the sunrise in Rainbow Valley today." he smiled and looked at the pink sky in front of him.

"Neither could I." she replied and put her hand into his "Can you believe that it's just two weeks to go?" she whispered wonderingly.

Blythe looked at her lovingly, his eyes gleaming "I wish it could be today." he whispered back.

"No," Julia shook her head "-it's nice to wait, and still have time to dream before it will all become a reality." she grinned at him.

"You're quite right." he replied in the same tone "You know I still can't believe that you _will_ be my wife." he squeezed her hand.

"I can't believe it either." she said and kissed his nose tenderly "But in what I can still hardly believe is that Olive is _already_ married to Niall!" she exclaimed.

"You didn't tell me!" Blythe said.

"Because I got a letter just yesterday, silly!" she chuckled "They married a week ago, and they are now living together, just like Olive always wanted, in the heart of Kensington." she smiled dreamily.

"Oh, that's splendid news." Blythe grinned "But I have better news to tell _you_." he whispered mysteriously.

"Oh, go on!" Julia demanded with excitement in her voice.

"I wanted to tell you today anyway," he replied with a shadow of a smile on his lips "-I bought us a house." he said eventually.

Julia's eyes widened immediately and she squeaked in joy, throwing her arms around Blythe's neck who started laughing along with her "We have a _house_!" Julia shouted, and then quietened remembering not to wake up the dryads hiding in the trees around her.

"Yes, we do!" Blythe kissed her "But it's not the end of the news." he said again.

"Yes?" she asked him nervously.

"The St. Gerard Majella's House in White Sands gave me a call just yesterday," he began with shining eyes "-and they told me that you can start your "midwifery adventure" in September, as they are in a desperate need of a new midwife." and he ended up being kissed by Julia who by then lost her mind completely, being overwhelmed with happiness which was almost impossible for her to bear.

"I wanted to give you this." Blythe said suddenly and took out the small pearl ring from the pocket of his jacket.

Julia's eyes widened in surprise once again "The engagement ring?" she asked in disbelief.

"I should have given it to you earlier, but I couldn't decide on the kind of the ring. Eventually my Mother gave it to me, as it was the engagement ring Father gave her, and which his Father gave my Grandmother too." he put the ring on Julia's hand carefully "I hope you don't mind pearl instead of a diamond." he smiled at her.

"How could I, Blythe? It's so perfect in every way. And it was worn by women in your family for generations." she looked at it closely, admiring it even more if she would be looking at the diamond ring "Besides, I never liked diamonds. And pearls are so much more… likable." and they both chuckled again. And the two of them stayed together in each other's arms, watching the sunrise together in their Rainbow Valley, dreaming the dreams for the future which they would spend, after all, with each other.

* * *

Later that day, Grandmother Rosemary and Grandfather John invited Jem and his family to a dinner. Rose, John, little Jackie and Jake were already at the manse and so the family sat down by the table together, everyone being very thankful that they could all be together again. "How are you feeling, Grandpa?" Julia asked John Meredith worriedly just after they all stopped admiring the cheesecake from Rosemary's special recipe.

He sighed softly but smiled at his granddaughter "I'm still quite weak, but fine on the soul, dear Julia." he said.

"Don't worry, sweetie." Jem said tenderly "I examined your Grandpa and I assure you that he is really fine, just needs some rest from time to time."

Julia grinned at her Grandfather again, her heart more content than it was before "Well I hope that you _do_ get a rest from time to time." she winked at him knowingly and he winked back.

"I will always make sure of that." Rosemary said in a decided yet warm voice and then hurrumphed "Julia, did you buy a wedding dress yet?" she asked her excitedly.

"Yes, Juliet, _did_ you?" Rose joined in.

Julia chuckled "No, and I'm not going to buy a wedding dress." she said, making everyone except Faith, Lily and Cee, look at her questioningly.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked her in surprise "How can you _not_ have a wedding dress?"

"I mean that I will wear my Mother's wedding dress." Julia said and smiled at Faith who smiled back at her daughter with pride in her eyes.

"Oh, that's such a beautiful idea." Rosemary said cheerfully "And what about your veil?" she asked again.

"I will wear Grandmother Anne's veil." Julia replied with twinkling eyes "I always loved it's design so much. And besides, I promised her some time ago, that I will wear it on my wedding day."

"When did you promise that?" Walt asked her.

"Well, some…" she giggled "-sixteen years ago." and her family sitting around the table laughed joyfully.

"And what about you, Rose and John?" Merry asked them suddenly "What are your plans after the summer?"

"I am going to take after my uncle's job as a History Professor in Montreal." John said proudly, looking at his wife with smiling eyes.

"Oh Rose, you will be so far away from me!" Julia said with a sigh of sadness in her voice.

"Certainly not as far away as for the past five years!" she replied and the laughter spread over the table again.

"Cee, darling," Grandfather said to his granddaughter who was stitting by his side "-the latest painting you gave me, made a real impression on Mary Vance today when I showed it to her. It's a difficult thing to do, to impress Mary Vance and so you should really be proud of yourself." he said and put his wrinkled hand on her small shoulder, making everyone else to chuckle a little.

Cee, being still quite shy and timid, smiled lightly at her grandfather and her cheeks turned bright pink "Thank you, Grandfather." she replied softly and the two kindred spirits smiled to each other. And so they all chatted and joked for the next few hours, not noticing how fast was the time flowing. After the dinner, John took his wife (or rather _she_ took him) and little Jackie upstairs to their room, Jake went fishing with Gilly, and Jem took his family back to their House on the Hill.

"Merry, do you really love Luna?" Julia aksed her brother while they walked all together back home.

"Of course I do, Jules." Merry said and smiled "She is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me." he put his arm around Julia's shoulder "And I always loved her but, believe it or not, I was too shy to tell her."

"Meredith Blythe, too _shy_?" Julia asked him in surprise and everyone who listened to them laughed "I thought that Luna was shy."

"She is," Merry said "-but in a different way." he smiled dreamily and Julia grinned at him too.

"Julia, do you think that you will be able to visit us one day, in Kingsport?" Walt asked his sister, squeezing her hand.

"Of course I will, although I don't know when it's going to happen but, of course, dear Walter." she replied and squeezed his hand back.

"I can't believe that you are going to leave us, my darling girl." Faith said to her daughter with a half-smile on her face.

Julia kissed her Mother's cheek gently "Mother-dear, you know that White Sands is just two hours away from Glen," she said to her "-besides, you are all always welcome to visit us in _our_ new home." she said, thrilled to bones by saying "our new home".

"Well, now I _know_ that my wife won't stay at home from this day on!" Jem chuckled and Faith poked him knowingly in the arm.

And so the Blythe family continued on walking together, enjoying their company and talking over everything they weren't able to talk over for the past six years. Julia thought that they didn't change at all, even though Walt was already a father, her parents bacame grandparents, and Merry and Julia herself were getting married in a very short time. " _And this only proves me that some things can never change_." Julia thought to herself.

* * *

Two days later, Blythe 'phoned up the House on the Hill and said, in the most exciting tone, that he found the field full of roses which he and Julia once discovered so many years ago but could never find it again. Julia ran, or maybe even flew, immediately to the House of Dreams and together, hand-in-hand with Blythe they entered the forest, both being positively thrilled about seeing the mysterious, magical field once again.

"Now, close your eyes." Blythe whispered suddenly.

Julia looked at him in a funny way "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Of course I'm sure. No peeking, please." he said and Julia chuckled when she closed her eyes and let Blythe lead her for the next five minutes. All of a sudden, Julia could smell the roses' beautiful scent which she always loved the most in the whole world of flowers, and the butterflies in her stomach started giving her the feeling of excitement even greater than just a few minutes earlier. It was as if she was entering another world, a world like no any other.

"Welcome to our new kingdom." Blythe whispered to her ear and stopped her from moving. Julia opened her eyes slowly and was breathless _and_ speechless the minute she saw that she was in the very centre of the circle made out of roses. The sunset was creeping behind the horizon and the orange light was leaving mysterious dancing shadows between the trees which were left on the roses. Julia thought that it looked exactly as one could imagine a red-sea would look like.

Blythe watched Julia's face as she started walking around, gently touching each of the roses' leaves with greatest grace and he could almost swear that she was dancing, although it was clear that she walked. He caught his breath when she finally turned around to face him. She looked just as if he imagined a Queen of Dryads would look like, especially with her smile which could shine out the sun hiding under the horizon just behind her back. A new poem started to appear in his mind, making him to smile wonderingly at Julia who looked at him with shining eyes.

"Blythe, I don't think I have ever seen something as beautiful as this." she whispered and made her way towards him, putting her arms around his neck, as if he was her King and she his Queen.

He smiled at her tenderly "Me neither." he whispered back "What should we call it then?" he asked, taking her hands in his.

Julia humphed while thinking "Let's call it our... Secret Way to the Light." she whispered, smiling at Blythe lovingly.

"And we musn't tell anyone about this place." he whispered back, his tone serious.

"Agreed." she whispered back and they both laughed together. Their laughter echoed throught the forest like an enchanted song bringing life and romance into it's stillness, and both Julia and Blythe knew that this song would remain there, between the Secret Way to the Light, forever.


	32. Preparations

**Chapter XXXI**

The first week of August marked the beggining of the final preparations for Julia's wedding. Faith, Una, Grandmother Blythe and Grandmother Rosemary started preparing their delicious food and the wedding cake. Di, Nan and Rilla started decorating the garden of the House on the Hill, where the wedding would take place. Blythe was in a search of his shoes ("Julia, have you ever thought what kind of trouble finding the right shoes would make for a man?") and Julia with all her cousins, tried to help with everything they could, although most of the time, Julia would rather spend her time on dreaming her new life which was just about to begin.

" _I am_ so _excited and so very ready for my new life with Blythe!_ " she wrote in her diary four days before her wedding day " _Will I ever believe that I will be Mrs Blythe Ford? The answer is and always will be: definitely no!_ _The very thought makes me want to stand and jump up and down until I will feel my arms or legs no more. I will be a_ wife _! And Blythe,_ my _Blythe, will be my_ husband _!_

 _"I can't wait to see my new house, I've seen the photographs of course, but I want to know how I will feel like inside, or how I will like my new garden or the neighbourhood. Blythe told me that our house is quite big, not huge but quite spacious and that all of the walls inside are fresh and white! I always wanted my house to have white walls, it looks much brighter, and cleaner because of that._

 _"I am really thrilled to know that I will work as a midwife! It will be such an adventure! Who knows maybe I'll meet there, in the St. Gerard Majella's House, new kindred spirits of my own? I am quite positive that I will, at least I hope so._

 _"There are so many things to dream about!_

 _"I got a letter from Olive today and she eventually bought tickets to Canada for herself and Niall. I will see her for just one day, on my wedding day becasue the day after I will be heading off with Blythe to our new home in White Sands and Olive with Niall are going to visit Niall's family in Charlottetown! I am as excited as Olive is for that visit, she will meet Niall's Canadian family and they will meet her. And of course, Olive will eventually see how beautiful our Prince Edward Island is._

 _"I will see them for just one day but one day can make a real difference!_

 _"Blythe finally found himself his "wedding-shoes", as he calls them with a sigh which always makes me laugh. He is so happy about our wedding, and we talk about it all the time and in such detail as if it already happened! He kept all of my letters I sent him during the war in the pocket of his uniform, and he had them with him in each battle he was involved in. When I touched those letters again, a thrill came down my skin, those pieces of paper had seen the war from a very different perspective to mine and it was just so… queer. But Blythe tells me that those letters kept him strong and faithful, and I couldn't be more glad because of that._

 _"Oh, and Claire sent me a wonderful telegram today: she just had her first baby, a son whom she called Miller for her father._ _And that's another thing I dream about sometimes. The motherhood seems so distant and so undiscovered to me. It is a very sweet thing to think about. When I was a little girl, I always wanted to have two or three children of my own, all pretty girls and_ no _boys. Now, I'm not quite sure. I think that I still want two or three kidlets of my own, but I actually don't mind whether they will all be girls or boys. Blythe told me that he would be just as happy even if in the end I wouldn't want children after all, but I know him too well and I know that his dream of fatherhood is just as sweet as mine is._

 _"Coming back to my wedding; Cee, Luna and Leslie will be my bridesmaids and they will all wear their pretty pink dresses and I will make them wear lavender-flowers in their hair. They are all positively excited about wearing the same dresses, which really are just the most adorable things in the whole world._

 _"And there's the other thing; today I put on my wedding dress and a veil for the_ first _time. It was such a magical moment which I certainly will never forget._ _My Mother's dress is such a beautiful garment right from the "roaring twenties" with small beads around the waist and some of them still flowing at the bottom. When I saw myself in the mirror I could hardly believe in my reflection, I felt like a real Queen._ _And then I put on Grandmother Anne's veil… When I put it on, I shivered, remembering how Grandmother told me about her own wedding day and all the other stories she shared with me about her later life in her own House of Dreams in Four Winds._

 _"All in all, I don't regret not buying either my dress or a veil myself and I truly think that I couldn't feel more like a bride if I wore something bought and as Leslie put it: "fashionable". I just know that I couldn't be more happy with what I will be wearing on my wedding day._

 _"Oh, and in_ three _days, just a day before the wedding, I will have my own party with all my girls._ _I think it will be the best thing in the whole world, especially because I know that the day after I will be going to White Sands knowing that I will be back in three long months!_ _We will talk, laugh, dance and sing. It is just what I need before leaving Glen._

 _"I just realised that it's almost one in the morning… I really do have to stop going to bed in such late hours, and "waking up God-knows-when", as my Dad said to me yesterday._

 _"I have a feeling that these last three days are going to be the most wonderful days of me being still, Julia Una_ Blythe _."_

* * *

The 5th of August came and with it came the party which Julia was waiting for ever since she came back from France. All "her" girls and Julia had their picnic on the beach in Four Winds with Julia's old, but still the best, portable radio. "Oh, it's so nice to finally be somewhere where there are no boys around, it really was a splendid idea, Juliet." Rose said when she ate her chocolate cookie.

"Thank you," Julia replied with a smile "And I knew that an evening with just you, my girls, would be just what I need before tomorrow…" her cheeks flushed with red and she sighed helplessly "I can't believe that I won't see you all until October!"

"Well, at least my wedding will be a reason for you to come to Glen again." Luna said proudly and Julia kissed her cheek gently.

"I'm so happy for you and Merry." she said with a smile.

"I would never suspect that _you_ , Luna Blythe would marry someone like _Merry_." Leslie added with impish eyes. Luna just smiled and her pale cheeks suddenly turned bright red, causing Leslie to stick her nose up high as she achieved her goal.

"How did our parents react, anyway?" Cilia asked her sister while drinking her lemonade.

"Mum was very happy becasue she knew for how long I loved Merry," Luna replied shyly, although still smiling "-and Father was very peaceful but he is quite sad that his second daughter is going to be married too."

Cilia touched her sister's hand "Poor Daddy." she said with a sigh "I know, he was very moved when I married Marshall so suddenly. But he'll be fine, Luna, you'll see." she grinned at her warmly.

"Julia, tell us about your wedding dress." Rose insisted excitedly "I know that you didn't buy it yourself but still, tell me how does it _feel_ like to have a wedding dress." she said remembering that her own wedding with John was a secret and that she didn't have any time to buy a wedding dress of her own.

"Oh, it's _so_ wonderful, you know." Julia answered eagerly "I told you already about its design, so you know it, but the feeling I got when I put it on…" she sighed happily "-and it's reminding me that I am _really_ getting married tomorrow!" All of the girls around her chuckled.

"I wonder when _I_ will be married?" Nancy questioned while playing with a pile of sand which flew on the blanket on which she was lying.

The girls looked at questioningly "Nancy, you are _fifteen_ years old." her sister Cilia said to her with furrowed brows.

"Well, don't tell me that _you_ didn't think about getting married when you were fifteen." Nancy replied harshly. Cee looked at her friend meaninfully but Nancy ignored her, as usual.

Leslie sighed and clasped her hands together "Goodness, Nanc's!" she said dramatically "Of course we didn't! We were thinking more about going to the college than about getting married."

Nancy humphed and rolled over so that she was lying on her back "I don't think _I_ want to go to the college." she said "I'm not good in anything really."

"Oh, Nancy, of course you are good in things." Luna said kindly "Your grades at school are really good."

"Yes, but…" she sighed and put her hands on her chest "I would rather be _married_ than go to work." Julia couldn't help but start laughing at that, and all the other girls followed her example, even shy Luna and Cee couldn't hide their smiles. "What are you laughing at Miss _bride_ -to-be?" Nancy asked her angrily.

"Nancy what do you think being married means?" Julia asked her, still grinning, seeing at the corner of her eyes how Rose gives her a meaningful gaze.

"Let's just leave the topic, thank you." Nancy said and her cheeks turned fiery.

"Alright then." Rose said and chuckled again "Julia, are you taking River to White Sands with you?" she asked her suddenly.

"No," Julia replied sighing "-River is quite old now, and Dad thinks that he should stay here, besides Blythe says that one day we will build a stable and we will buy another horse." she smiled hopefully.

"Are you packed for tomorrow?" Cilia asked Julia.

Julia just shook her head and all the girls giggled "I should have known that, Sheba." Leslie said with a smile.

"I'm so not organised sometimes." Julia admitted with a grin.

"But you did _start_ packing at least?" asked surprised Lily.

"Yes, of course, I'm not _that_ disorganised." Julia chuckled "Gosh, is it really tomorrow, girls?" she asked them breathlessly again.

"Yes, darling." Cilia said tenderly "You will see that the wedding day is one of the most beautiful days in a girls' life." she touched the gold band resting on the fourth finger of her right hand gently.

Julia smiled at her "I already feel that." she said and then she gasped "Oh my God! I will see Olive and Niall tomorrow!" she put her hands on her blushed cheeks.

All the girls chuckled again "Of course you will, you goose!" Rose said to her and patted her shoulder "And by the way, I can't wait to meet them. _Especially_ Olive." she winked at Julia knowingly.

"You'll love her." Julia said with a smile "She is just the funniest thing alive!" she laughed.

And then, suddenly, the song which Julia loved singing to so much during the war, turned on the radio. She got up immediately and took out the hand towards her sister-in-law "May I?" she bowed at her.

Lily giggled "Of course!" and all the other girls followed their example and they all danced to the " _Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy_ " by Andrew Sisters on the beach. And the sight of them was just as wonderful and fresh like the ocean breeze surrounding them. They all forgot about the weddings and marriages and future. They all lived in that moment and felt like ten-year-olds all over again, dancing with one another and singing as loudly as they could.

And then…

"It's raining!" Nancy squeaked and started packing up all of the food and blankets very quickly.

"Leave it Nancy!" Julia said and put her arms high into the air, enjoying how the droplets of rain started covering her whole body "Let's have fun and _dance_!"

" _Yes_ , leave it Nancy!" added Rose and took Julia in her arms "Let's dance and sing in the rain!" she shouted happily.

"But we will be ill!" Nancy squeaked again covering the radio with the blanket.

"No we won't and _you_ know that we won't!" Cilia said to her sternly and took her hand "Come on!" and the girls spent another twenty minutes dancing and singing in the rain, having the time of their lives.

When they came back, giggling and almost totally soaked, to the Ingleside where their whole family was gathered and was waiting for them, everyone in the Ingleside's living room fell silent and looked at them closely, with surprise and maybe even gleam of wickedness behind their gaze. The girls stopped giggling when they enteredt the room and looked back at their family members with just the same shining eyes.

"Who's idea was it?" Rilla was the first to ask.

"Mine, dear Aunt Rilla." Julia said seriously and bowed in front of her as if Rilla was a queen. Laughter spread across the room very quickly and everyone agreed later on that it really couldn't be anyone else's idea other than Julia's very own.

* * *

"I can't believe I missed seeing you dancing in the rain." Blythe said to Julia while both of them were walking back to the House on the Hill.

Julia smiled at him "Well, you will have many other opportunities to catch up on what you missed." she squeezed his hand as he smiled at her lovingly.

"So it _is_ tomorrow then, isn't it?" he whispered as if he was telling her a secret which no one was supposed to know except for her.

"It is." she whispered back and grinned mysteriously "Are you nervous?" she asked him, her eyes gleaming.

"Well, of course I am." he whispered back and Julia looked at him worriedly "What if you will change your mind at the very last minute? You are the most unpredictable person I know." he said and then he couldn't hide his smile appearing on his lips.

Julia poked him gently on the arm "Oh, please Blythe, you know that I _will_ come." she said and after a few seconds they both laughed.

"This time tomorrow, you will be Mrs Julia Una Ford, how does it feel like?" Blythe asked her with twinkling eyes.

She kissed his cheek "Like the most beautiful dream which will finally become a reality." she said wonderingly.

Blythe looked ahead of him and sighed almost angrily as he saw the figure of the House on the Hill already. Julia looked in the same direction as him and sighed too, sadly this time. "Tomorrow at one in the afternoon," she said to him when they stopped next to the road which was leading towards Four Winds.

Blythe chuckled "I won't forget, don't worry." he replied and bent down to kiss Julia Una _Blythe_ one last time.

"I almost forgot how tall you are." she whispered with a smile when she touched his cheeks.

He smiled at her adoringly and kissed her forehead "I'll see you at the altar then, my sweetheart." he whispered.

"I'll see you there, my Blythe." she whispered back and kissed both of his cheeks tenderly.

""Parting is such sweet sorrow."" Blythe quoted Shakespeare's famous line which he always wanted to use but never found the perfect moment to do it.

Julia gasped silently ""That I shall say goodnight till it be morrow."" she whispered back.

"You remember when we both learned the balcony scene from "Romeo and Juliet" then?" he asked her in surprise.

"I would never forget it." she said and kissed him once again "I'll see you soon then." she said excitedly.

"Sooner than you might think." he whispered back and turned around towards the road leading to Four Winds.

Julia was looking at him for as long as her eyes could see his figure walking down the road, turning around once in a while and waving to her, like a little boy he once was. When he vanished from her sight, she thought to herself: " _Is that even possible to love someone so much?_ ". Then she grinned and made her way towards her home, for the last time as Julia Una Blythe.


	33. New Beginning

**Chapter XXXII**

It was the morning of the 6th of August, when Olive and Niall Harris arrived at the steps of the House on the Hill, in the very moment when Julia was putting on her wedding dress. "Hello, hello you _gorgeous_ girl!" Olive said cheerfully when she entered Julia's bedroom. Julia turned around and squeaked with happiness. She hugged and kissed both Olive and Niall tightly, forgetting about all the poeple surrounding them who were waiting to meet the friends of which Julia couldn't stop talking about ever since she came back from France.

"I can't believe you're really here, in Glen!" Julia gasped and put her hands on Olive's shoulders.

"I can't believe that you're getting _married_ today!" Olive said excitedly and kissed Julia's cheeks again.

Julia smiled at her again and then turned around to her Mother, both Grandmothers and bridesmaides who were looking at the new guests with interest in their eyes. "May I present to you, my dearest friends without whom I wouldn't survive the war. Olive and Niall." she said proudly and let her family get acquainted with them.

Olive and Niall looked even more in love with each other than the last time Julia had seen them, the both of them had their eyes just for one another and couldn't hide it even if they tried. To be honest, Julia had never seen them as happy, not even Olive who at the worst hours, could always think of something optimistic. And that was also another reason which made Julia even more excited for her own wedding day and married life.

"Bath, your dress is absolutely beautiful." Olive whispered to her ear when Julia finally sat down in front of the mirror letting Faith do her hair.

"Thank you, Olive darling." Julia whispered back with a smile.

"We met your Blythe already, you know." Olive winked at her knowingly.

Julia gasped and her cheeks turned pink "Really? When?" she asked her.

Olive chuckled at her friend's reaction "Just now, when we took Ingleside for the House on the Hill, when we got lost, _obviously_." she laughed merrily.

Everyone else in the room chuckled as well "And…?" Julia questioned with a grin.

"He looks positively beaming!" she said theatrically and sat down on the chair making everyone else laugh once again. Julia's cheeks flushed with red once more and she looked in the mirror in front of her. She was surprised to see a very beautiful young woman, a woman and _not_ a girl, who had all her life in front of her. Her red short curls were pined up to the back with lavender-flowers put around her head like a little crown. Her cheeks were naturally rosy red and on her slender "Anne Shirley's nose" were eight small sweet freckles. Around her neck was a small rose-shaped necklace she got from Blythe three years earlier which she never took off. And in her shining hazel eyes, was the absolute definition of love, strength, independence and beauty.

"Done, my darling girl." Faith said and patted her daughter's shoulders tenderly.

Julia stood up carefully, took her Grandmother Anne's veil and put it on her head gently. Then… she turned around to face all the women in front of her. Silence and the sound of gasp and astonishment spread across the room. Julia's bridesmaids; Leslie, Luna and Cee looked at her with eyes full of hopefulness; Grandmothers' looked at Julia with pride in their eyes; Rilla, Di, Nan and Una had tears in their eyes; Olive, Cilia, Lily and Rose's eyes filled up with their own memory of their weddings; and finally Faith, whose lip started to tremble and whose cheeks were already wet, came up to her daughter and took her in her arms.

"Even though you have your wedding dress on, and a veil is right there on your head, you will always be my little girl, _won't_ you, dear?" she asked her, and looked into her daughter's eyes.

"Of course, Mother-dearest." Julia whispered back, feeling how tears started coming up to her eyes "I may be Blythe's wife and live in White Sands, but I will always be _your_ Julia from Glen." she said with a tender smile.

"I love you darling." Faith said with a trembling voice, once again.

"I know you do. And I love you too." Julia answered and kissed her Mother's wet cheeks.

"Alright, that's enough of crying for today!" Faith said and dryed off her tears making everyone else in the room to laugh light-heartedly.

"Bath, it's almost quarter to one!" Olive exclaimed making all the others in the room to stand up at once and make their way towards the door of Julia's bedroom.

"Good luck, my darling girl." Grandmother Anne said and kissed her granddaughter on the nose tenderly.

"Thank you, Grandmother." Julia whispered and her grandma winked at her knowingly.

"May God bless you both, dear." said Grandmother Rosemary "I know that you and Blythe will be very happy together." and she squeezed Julia's hand.

"We will." Julia agreed and smiled at her.

Then the bridesmaids went downstairs, along with Olive who was whistling the "Wedding March" all the way down to the garden and Rose, Cilia and Lily walking with their small children in their arms. "Oh, Mum, it's really happening, isn't it?" Julia questioned Faith when they were left alone for a moment.

Faith nodded and kissed her daughter's cheek lovingly "There's no way you can deny it." she said sweetly "Are you nervous, after all?" she asked with a funny look in her eyes.

"No, not a bit." Julia replied decidedly and chuckled "You know, Mother-dear, that Blythe and I really do love each other very dearly." she said with her cheeks turning red from emotions.

"I know, dearest. And that's why I'm not feeling bad for letting you marry so quickly." Faith said with watery eyes.

"Mum, if there wasn't a War, you would marry Dad when you were nineteen!" Julia exclaimed and Faith laughed again.

"That's quite true." she answered and then the two of them turned around because they heard a knocking on the door.

"Jerry is ready to start and Blythe just can't stand still." Jem said to his wife and daughter with a smile on his lips.

Faith nodded and quickly kissed Julia's cheeks, twice each "Good luck, dearest." she said and when Julia nodded, not able to say anything at all, Faith came downstairs into the garden, leaving the daughter and father together in the room.

Jem stepped nearer Julia, looking at his daughter as if she was the most wonderful creature he had ever seen in his life "You look so beautiful, I don't know if Blythe will be able to stand it." he said to her.

Julia chuckled quietly "I hope so." she said and made her Father smile at her with eyes full of tears "Shall we go?" she asked him, taking into her hands her wedding-bouquet made out of roses right from her and Blythe's Secret Way to the Light, of which no one knew except for the two of them.

"If you're ready." Jem whispered and offered his arm to her.

Julia took his arm swiftly "I _am_ ready." she whispered back in a decided tone and the two of them started coming downstairs right into the House on the Hill's garden. The weather couldn't be more wonderful. The sky had just a few clouds on it, the sun was shining and the birds, hiding in the trees around, were singing their enchanted love-song. When Jem and Julia arrived at the beggining of the aisle, everyone held their breaths and looked into the direction they were standing.

Julia looked as if she could fly straight into Blythe's arms. And her smile, which was constantly on her face, could never get more beautiful as it was in that very moment. Her face was shining and her cheeks were bright pink, making her to look even more perfect than she already looked. Julia struggled to hold back her tears of happiness, as she just realised that it wasn't a dream; it was all real and it was all happening right in front of her eyes. She _was_ going to marry Blythe, _her_ Blythe, and they would start their life together _that_ day.

Blythe, at the end of the aisle, looked so handsome that Julia just beamed in pride. He straightened his back when he saw his bride-to-be and winked at Julia while smiling, when she started walking down the aisle, slowly, wishing that she could run instead. Blythe, just like Julia, couldn't believe that their wedding wasn't just a fantasy. Wasn't it just a few years earlier when he thought that _this_ dream would never, not for the world, become a reality? But what a sweet reality it was! He would never think that happiness such as he felt in that moment was even possible to achieve.

When Jem gave his daughter away and left her standing next to Blythe, she looked at him under her veil and smiled lovingly. "I'm glad you came." Blythe whispered with a small grin crossing his face.

"I promised that I would, and so I did." she whispered back and the two of them chuckled quietly while taking each other's hands.

Jerry smiled at the both of them, put up his hands high into the air and said outloud to everyone: "Let us pray." Then the whole ceremony started and neither Julia nor Blythe thought it could go as quick as it did. Jerry gave a wonderful and very moving speech about "being lovers as well as friends" which Julia nor Blythe would ever forget. Little Julienne and Knoxie seemed to enjoy the ceremony as much as everyone else and were giggling from time to time. The birds continued on singing, and Julia thought that it could not possibly be summer, as they sang as beautifully as they would do in the springtime.

And in a blink of an eye, Julia and Blythe were exchanging the gold rings and placing them on each other's hands. Then they were repeating the sacred words of faithfulness and love, and suddenly... Julia and Blythe became husband and wife and the proud groom removed the veil from Julia's face, bent down and kissed her passionately. The cheers spread across the garden and Julia's bridesmaids along with the little Jackie started throwing flower-leaves on the laughing, very much in love with each other, married couple.

Then it was time for Julia to threw her boquet into one of the girls's standing in front of her expectant hands. Leslie was pushing Nancy on the side, Cee and Luna stood next to each other with shy smiles on their faces, and Cordelia just giggled all the way through. Finally Julia threw the boquet high into the air and within seconds, it landed straight into Luna's shaking hands. Her cheeks flushed with red and she looked at Merry and quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Then the wedding feast began and the whole family sat down by the very long table which was put at the front of the House on the Hill, right under the big cherry-tree. The food really _was_ wonderful and even Mary Vance had to admit it, although quite reluctantly. Everyone talked and talked, enjoying everybody else's company. It was, after all, the very first wedding in their family to which everyone attended. The wedding cake arrived at the table, and Julia ate the biggest part of it herself, and everybody along with her husband, laughed and would laugh years later when they would look at the picture of Julia's "chocolaty", like Jackie said, lips, taken in that moment.

Then, of course there was the time for dancing, and Blythe who was never fond of dancing, stood up quickly from his chair, and not asking her, took Julia in his arms and they flew straight onto the dance floor. Everyone looked at them with a warm feeling in their hearts. Grandmother Anne, whose hand was resting in her husband's hand, for one moment thought that she was in Julia's age again. By seeing so much love in her granddaughter's and her grandson's eyes, it seemed that she went back to her own wedding day all over again. Grandfather Gilbert was thinking about the exact same thing and without saying a word to each other he and his wife followed the bride and the groom and they started dancing, shortly followed by everyone else.

Julia's blind brother, Merry, danced with Luna as if he could see everything _even_ the music itself. Walt, with his wooden leg, waltzed with his wife as good as no one in his family could and even the shy Owen offered his hand to Cee whose pale cheeks flushed with bright pink while she took the offered hand in front of her. Then Julia danced with her Father, then her Father-in-law, Grandfathers, all of her uncles and even with Niall, whereas Blythe started dancing first with his own trembling Mother Rilla, and then with all the other women in his family. He even danced with Cornelia herself, and because everyone of the race that knows Joseph was there, there was no worry for gossiping or a disapproval for him to do that.

Then they all sat down together once again and enjoyed their toasts to the happiest couple that day, and they all started chatting again. Rose announced that she would become a mother again, in February next year, and after her big announcement everyone thought that the day of the 6th of August couldn't get any merrier or any more joyful.

And so slowly, the sky was robbed out of the sun which dissapeared behind its horizon, leaving the unforgettable sunset behind. The day became a night quite quickly, and the sun was replaced by stars. "It seems that the stars are dancing with us tonight." Blythe whispered into Julia's ear, and she knew that he was right.

It was finally time for Julia to dress into her "travelling suite". She was leaving her wedding dress and her veil sadly, wishing that she could wear it forever, but she didn't mind dressing up in the costume everyone else would remember later on, _especially_ Mary Vance. Julia was dressed in her Mother's old blouse with lace on the neckline, she put a lovely small black velvety half-hat on her head, and _trousers_ , the long and wide gray trousers with four buttons on the top of them. But after all, they all knew that it was Julia, and she wouldn't leave Glen without _any_ surprises.

"And Blythe likes seeing me wearing something original." Julia thought to herself and was right because as she went back downstairs, to Blythe who was waiting for her by the car, he caught his breath again thinking that he had never seen her as radiating with joy as she was in that very moment. Although some people would think that it is impossible to leave a home where you were born in without any sadness carried in your heart, it _was_ possible for both Julia and Blythe as they knew that they were ready to leave their homes and childhoods behind, and begin their lives together knowing that wherever their roads may lead them, they would go down them _together_.

So the two of them said their farewells to their family, and it _did_ take a while, as everyone thought that _their_ wishes and _their_ good advice would do them better than anyone else's. There were no tears shed, as Julia insisted, but there were emotions nonetheless.

Julia and Blythe started driving away from the House on the Hill, with smiles on their faces and gleaming eyes full of hope, joy, romance and dreams, oh, such _sweet_ dreams! "Are you ready for the new beginning?" Blythe asked his wife when the House on the Hill vanished from their sights.

Julia nodded and touched his hand tenderly "Always." she replied with a smile.

 _ **THE END**_

* * *

 **I can't believe that I finished "Julia of the Island"! I wanted to thank you all (my readers) for reading my story to the very end and for all the reviews I got which really make me smile every time I see them! ;)**

 **I am starting working on the sequel which will be called " Julia of White Sands" and I will post the first chapter next week, so keep your eyes open! :) Thank you all once again! - Bathsheba Blythe**


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